Exile's War of Vengeance
by SparkofLeaves
Summary: It is 2009, and the regions are united under one National League. As Slick, Elite of Hoenn, explores the Sinnoh region, an ancient evil cries out for vengeance against mankind, threatening to alter the course of history forever. (Note: Characters/setting are from the games, not the anime or manga.)
1. Slick

Slick and the Raichu emerged from Mount Coronet, squinting in the sunlight. The Trainer wore a black jacket, a green shirt, and jeans, a bulging knapsack on his shoulders. On Slick's belt hung six red-and-white capsules, his Poke Balls. There was Slick's Lucario, Swampert, Skarmory, Umbreon, and Leafeon. His Raichu, of course, was the sixth member of Slick's team.

Five years had passed since that fateful day in Viridian City when Slick recieved his first Pokemon... Slick, who was the Elite of Hoenn, and who had almost become Champion of all the Seven Regions. Standing near the cave's entrance, Slick looked towards the city in the valley between the mountains.

"Alright everyone, we're almost to Hearthome City," said the Trainer, returning the Raichu to his Poke Ball with a button. "We'll freshen up, then hit the gym, all right?" Listening to the faint murmurs of approval from the Poke Balls on his belt, Slick and his Pokemon continued along Route 216 and to the city that was known as the "heart of Sinnoh".

* * *

From the moment that Slick arrived in Hearthome, he was surrounded by people with Solrocks at their side in celebration of the summer solstice. As Slick passed the fence that marked Hearthome's boundaries, a man immediately ran up to him.

"Hello, I'm visiting from the Hoenn region," said the man, grabbing Slick by the shoulder. "I had been hoping to find the Contest hall, but being new, I lost my way. Fortunately, the locals very kindly led me to my destination. I was impressed by the kindness and generosity to a complete stranger. Now, may I offer you the courtesy of showing you to the Contest Hall?"

Slick was taken aback. "Uh, I'm not going to the Contest Hall," said the Trainer, frowning at the man. "I'm actually looking for this city's gym. I don't suppose you know where that is?"

The man immediately looked apologetic. "Oh, in that case, I'm sorry, I should mind my own buisness," he said quickly, letting go of Slick. "Good day!" Before the Trainer could stop him, he turned and ran off down the street.

Slick stared after the fleeing man, then sighed. "What's the point of coming to Sinnoh for the Contest Hall if you come from Hoenn?" muttered the Trainer as he continued on. "Stupid unhelpful tour guides..."

* * *

Hearthome City's training gym was pitch-black inside. "What's it with people and training in complete darkness?" muttered Slick, squinting into the shadows. It's like Brawly back in Dewford, only even harder to see..."

A voice next to him spoke up. "Hey, trainer, if you want to train here, you've gotta have an inner light like everyone else," said the gym attendant from behind SLick. See, if you wanna challenge someone, you've gotta master the darkness and shine through. Like this!"

"Agh! Don't do that!" protested Slick as the gym attendant whipped out a high-powered flashlight, pointing it straight at his eyes. "Could you aim that... elsewhere-"

Not lowering the flashlight, the person explained, "Well, those are the rules of this gym. This gym specializes in ghost-types, and dark beats ghost, so you must master the darkness in order to succeed, see?"

Slick groaned. "What? If you don't like this gym's rules, take it up with our leader Fantina," said the person, shrugging.

Slick glanced down to Sparktail, then put a hand over the gym attendant's flashlight, his eyes still filled with stars. "And where is she, anyway?" asked the Trainer, glancing around. "Ugh. Maybe I should come back-"

The gym attendant cut him off. "Oh, you're a challenger, are you?" said the man, pressing the flashlight into Slick's hand. "Well, if you want to challenge anyone, you should take this!"

Slick stared at the flashlight, then flicked it off, removed the batteries, and handed it back. "Yeah, I don't need a flashlight," he said without looking back, reaching for his Umbreon's Poke Ball as he moved into the darkness.

He moved through the gym cautiously, one hand on his Umbreon's tail, eyes tracking the subtle glow of the golden rings on his Pokemon's fur. He found the gym's skull-maze irritating; obnoxious, perhaps, but not frightening. There were no wild Pokemon lurking in the shadows, and the Trainers were sparse, too easy to defeat. Had the gyms in Hoenn and Kanto really been like this before the regulation changes? It'd been a while since he'd been back home...

"Congrats, you're one step closer to finding Fantina!" exclaimed another trainer as Slick's Umbreon stood triumphant over the opponent's Gastly. "But you still need to face two more of us to get the location of the skulls with the combination key. And you'll never guess where they are, haha!"

Slick sighed. "I'm not trying to challenge Fantina, I'm just trying to do some training," repeated Slick, growing exapserated. "I told you all already, you don't need to hide away from me, I just want to get some..." He trailed off. "You're not there anymore, are you. I'm talking to myself."

* * *

"Surely... you do not think yourself greater than I, no?" called Fantina's voice from the shadows as Slick stumbled into the last room. "Ah, but if that is that and you believe that you believe that... your challenge, I accept."

"I"m not here for a challenge," sighed Slick as he approached the gym leader. "I'm here on behalf of the Hoenn League, actually, and I was supposed to get some new ideas for the gyms, since you guys in SInnoh supposedly have the most advanced gyms, but-" He broke off as Fantina turned to face him, fuming. "Wait. You're a girl?"

Wrong thing to say. At once, she slapped him, sending him reeling. "How dare you!" hissed Fantina, her hair-bunches twirling like a propeller. "Now face me in battle!"

She threw two Poke Balls into the air. "Drifblim and Mismagus! Go!" In two flashes of light, Drifblim and Mismagus appeared.

Slick sighed, then reached for his Raichu's Poke Ball, motioning to his Umbreon with his other hand. "Raichu and Umbreon, you're up" The Umbreon behind him stepped forward as the Raichu flew out from the Poke Ball, stepping forward to engage the waiting opponents.

Fantina commanded, "Mismagus, Shadow Claw! Drifblim, Explosion!"

Slick ordered, "Sparktail, Protect! Umbreon, Payback!"

Mismagus slashed at Umbreon, barely fazing it. As soon as it struck, Umbreon leapt backwards, and then used its hind legs to propel itself back at Mismagus. Mismagus fell to the floor, defeated. "And it didn't even need a Curse," said Slick.

The two trainers stared as Fantina's Mismagius collapsed to the ground. "I lost?!" cried Fantina, throwing her gloved hands up into the air in dismay. "Fine! Come here. This badge, you have earned, non?"

The Raichu blinked as he heard Fantina's accent. "Don't worry, her accent's a fake," assured the Umbreon as Fantina recalled her Pokemon.

The gym leader glared at Slick until he walked up to her and and held out his hand, sighing. "You know, I wasn't actually here for the badge," said the Trainer as she dropped the pin into his hand. "Really, you could take a leaf from Flannery's book and-"

"That's it! You've got the badge," said the woman, silencing him with a stern purple glare. "Now out, out, out of my gym!"


	2. Terror Begins

That night, in his motel room, Slick collapsed on a white couch, exhausted but happy. Alone at last, he glanced around to his Pokemon gathered around him, a hand resting on his Swampert's head, gently scratching him behind the fin-ears.

On the opposite wall, his Leafeon and his Raichu were examining the television set, which was off and appeared to have no buttons of any sort. "Stupid wireless technology," muttered Slick as his Umbreon retrieved the remote control from under the couch. "Clever of you... uhh... Insight? Incite? Insyte? Damnit, I wish I knew how to spell properly when I gave you your name..."

The television flickered to life, displaying one of Slick's favorite sitcoms. Grinning, the Trainer and his Pokemon settled into comfortable positions to watch.

Then came the emergency news broadcast that would change the world forever, interrupting the show with the network's flashing logos. "This is Sinnoh! Now! We're reporting live from Hearthome City."

"The world-famous Hearthome Contest Hall has caught fire during a Coolness contest, and the fire is quickly spreading! Two of the contestants have insisted that the show go on, claiming that 'being on fire' boosts their Pokemon's 'Coolness' attributes." The television screen displayed the outside of the Contest Hall. Firefighters scurried left and right with several Blastoises as buildings burned.

Slick froze. "This can't be real-" He grabbed his backpack, fumbled for his belt, and activated the five Poke Balls on his belt. "Gotta go... gotta go," muttered Slick as Skarmory, Umbreon, Leafeon, Raichu, and Swampert flew back into their capsules. He ran out of hte apartment and down the street towards the fire- leaving his Lucario's Poke Ball on the couch.

* * *

Slick ran down the streets darkened by night, the only light coming from the malicious and hungry flames which consumed the Contest Hall. Everywhere that Slick turned, people and Pokemon were running and screaming in every direction, all semblance of control or calm gone. As Slick approached the massive blazing Contest Hall, the fleeing crowd grew denser and more tightly packed. Coordinators and Trainers and Pokemon were mingled together in a single, horrified crowd of distress.

Slick arrived at the contest hall, surrounded by fire trucks, firefighters, blastoises, and caution tape. The famous building was consumed in a blazing golden sun of fire. High above them all, night and day had become reversed, the massive inferno illuminating the evening sky. The roof had caved in, the columns collapsing and falling over. Slick stared in horror, backing away slowly from the fire. "How... how could this building burn?"

"Get away from here!" yelled a firefighter spotting Slick. More firefighters emerged from the burning building, carrying unconscious people and tools. "It's not safe here!"

Three hundred feet up into the air, a massive bird with flaming wings and a plume of flame adorning its head gave a mighty screech of triumph, watching the chaos it had caused. It stared intently at the burning Contest Hall, hovering in midair. Moltres then nodded, and the flames exploded outwards, spreading to the buildings surrounding it.

There was a flash of light from within the wreckage. Twenty houndooms and ten magmars emerged from the Contest Hall. Slick stared at the wild pokemon who glared and roared most violently. The firefighters were breaking their ranks, retreating as the wild pokemon advanced upon them.

"S-Skarmory," stuttered Slick, sending out Ferricia. "Let's get out of here! Now!" He climbed onto Ferricia's back and flew off.

* * *

Thirty miles north in Snowpoint City...

"I don't understand," said Candice, staring at the videophone. "Cynthia. Wild pokemon do not ever, I repeat, EVER come this close to the town."

"Pokemon are not the destructive and warlike creatures that humans are," stated Cynthia firmly. "They are entirely reactive. They would not attack a human city for absolutely no reason whatsoever. And I trust, Candice, that you would not be one to provoke them."

"Cynthia, this is serious," said Candice, giving Cynthia a cold glare. "Forget all your 'theories' about pokemon behavior. This is REAL. It is happening, right now-"

Candice broke off as an ice shard smashed through the window and struck the videophone. Candice glanced up towards the window to see a Froslass flying towards her.

Candice stood up and ran out the door, leaving the destroyed videophone behind. She ran out into the ice-bound streets of Snowpoint City to find the earth trembling as Mamoswines pushed their way up and out of the ground. Plants stood up, shaking snow off their fronds, revealing themselves as Abomasnows. People stopped dead and turned towards the wild pokemon bursting up and out of the ground. They froze with fear and confusion, and then froze to death.

"ReGIIIIIIIICE!" roared Regice, emerging from a massive snowdrift bursting open. It approached Candice, who stared at it. "All... shall FREEZE!"

And yet in all the midst of this, not one person noticed the light-blue bird with glittering wings, cold and heartless blue eyes, and a crown of glittering ice shards. Articuno's eyes glinted and beat her wings, breathing her cold-hearted blizzard winds upon Snowpoint City.


	3. Pastoria

On the night of the Hearthome fires, eight-year-old Rex noticed that Crasher Wake and his entire gymnasium staff had left (to go help fight the fires). "Where do you think that the place is where Crasher Wake is going? I want Crasher Wake to come back into the gym because I want to fight him. I hope that he comes back in soon." Wilsa, Rex's older sister by five years, sighed. She was bored and her Jolteon had fainted. And now she had to put up with Rex's incessant talking.

At that moment, the news report on the Contest Hall fire reached Pastoria City. Rex exclaimed, "Oh no, that's where Slick is!" Wilsa looked at the TV. "Slick's right there!" She pointed at the screen as Slick, riding Skarmory, soared into the camera's view.

Rex and Wilsa were Slick's younger cousins. Despite his royal name, Rex was nowhere near the top of trainers. He had lost to Roark with a water-type, after all. Of course, he kept switching out his Pokemon, and his water-type was a Gyrados. He liked to say he was an awesome fighter though. But if he was bad, then his older sister Wilsa was terrible. Wilsa had an excuse, though- she was a Coordinator. Of course, she didn't like to admit that her brother was as good as her- or rather, that she was as bad as him.

Wilsa and Rex traveled together, though not by choice. They had arrived in Pastoria City the day before Slick arrived in Hearthome.

While the siblings watched the crisis in Hearthome, another crisis was erupting outside in Pastoria. A group of Pokemon had escaped from the Pastoria Marshes, attacking people. At first, Wilsa and Rex were oblivious to the chaos, too focused on the drama on the television and not focused enough on the drama outside...

Then a Toxicroak broke down the door of the Pokemon Center. "Crooak," it gurgled. Rex and Wilsa were both startled. "What's that thing?" exclaimed Wilsa, throwing her hands up into the air.

Rex flipped open his Pokedex. "Uh... I've never seen one before, I can't find anything..." Dropping the device on the ground, Rex grabbed a Poke Ball and sent out his Infernape. "Infernape, use Ember!" he commanded.

Wilsa then sent out Dragonair. "Dragonair, use Thunder Wave!"

Unfortunately, Dragonair was poorly trained and hit Infernape accidentally. Infernape was just as inept in training, and missed with Ember and hit a wall.

"Um, use Thief!" amended Rex. Infernape attacked the Toxicroak, sneaking up behind it and stealing its Black Sludge. Wilsa then recalled Dragonair and sent out Umbreon... only for it to get DynamicPunched by the Toxicroak.

"At this rate, we'll be out of Pokemon..." muttered Wilsa, watching as Rex's Infernape keeled over from the toxins of the black sludge.

Rex then sent out his Torterra. "Use Vine whip!" Toxicroak was unfazed in the slightest. Instead, it threw a Sludge Bomb at Torterra, instantly knocking it out.

Before Rex could send out another Pokemon, the Toxicroak struck both siblings with its webbed claws, knocking two Poke Balls off of each trainer. It picked up the four Poke Balls, and cracked them all open. Four jets of light shot out from its hands, one from each Poke Ball. Rex's mouth dropped as the four jets of light solidified into Rex's Dusknoir, Rex's Staraptor, Wilsa's Piplup, and Wilsa's Ponyta. "Croooak!" the Toxicroak bellowed. All four Pokemon looked at their former trainers and ran at them. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" cried Rex in panic, running away from them and straight into the wall.

Wilsa slapped her forehead. "Oh right, I should have sent out Espeon!" She did so, but Dusknoir hit Espeon with a shadow punch immediately. "Oops," she said, as her Espeon fell over.

Rex got up from the floor and held up his last two Pokemon. "Let's go, Charizard and Empoleon!" . Unfortunately, Wilsa's Piplup had already been aiming a hydro pump at Rex, and knocked Charizard out of the sky. The Charizard collapsed on the Pokemon Center's floor with a massive thud, leaving a large imprint in the floor. This was quickly followed by a thunderpunch to Empoleon's gut from Dusknoir. The penguin toppled over like a bowling pin. Wilsa was surprised. "Since when could you learn Hydro pump?" she asked, trying to talk to the Piplup. It really didn't matter though, because all Wilsa had left was Jolteon, who had fainted a few hours ago. It was too bad, because Jolteon would have really helped here. As for Rex, he was out of Pokemon.

As the Toxicroak and the four released Pokemon advanced on them, a Dragonite tore open the Pokemon Center's roof with Lance riding it. The Toxicroak looked up, puzzled. Then the Dragonite fired five Dragon Pulses at the five hostile Pokemon, sending them all flying backwards into the wall.

"Get on the dragon!" Lance yelled, as he landed. The siblings obeyed and pulled themselves up and onto the Dragonite's back. The Dragonite rose into the air, leaving behind the five Pokemon shaking their paws in defiance at them.


	4. Retaken

Aaron, a former Sinnoh Elite and the current gym leader of Floarama, sat in the center of a great meadow. He clutched a cell phone in his hands, urgently texting his brother in the Johto region. "3 birds atkng. Stay safe."

"Bzzz bzz?" inquired his Vespiqueen, offering him a jar of honey.

Aaron shook his head. "It's all right, Vesp. It's just... my brother." Vespiqueen nodded, and the two walked out into Floarama Town, lushest of all cities in Sinnoh.

The flower-village had changed drastically. Gone were the flowers and the grass that marked Floarama for what it was. Aaron stared in horror as bug pokemon, the insects whom he called friends and companions, pillaged the town and attacked the villagers viciously. Pinsirs and Heracrosses stripped the earth of grass while Ariadoses and Yanmegas chased men and women and children with sharpened fangs.

Venemoths and Ninjasks swarmed into the town, bringing silver winds and swarms upon Floarama. Parases emerged from the ground, swallowing all that was green and good, evolving and releasing spores which burst into new Parases which ate and evolved and reproduced.

Aaron's mouth opened and closed, and he stumbled back, horrified. "Oh my god... Vespy... what's happening- VESPY?"

A swarm of Beedrills and Combees had flown at the Vespiqueen, stinging and stabbing her viciously. "Vesssp!" screeched Vespiqueen in pain as her own hive turned against her.

Aaron ran at the swarm of bees, trying to swat them away. "Stop! Stop! Stop- AUGGGGHHHHH!" The furious bees glared at Aaron, and swarmed upon the human.

Moments later, the destruction of Floarama resumed. Aaron and Vespiqueen lay together dying, covered with hundreds of thousands of beestings, the venom overwhelming their bodies. "No... no..." croaked Aaron as Floarama slowly faded away into blackness.

* * *

Gardenia, the leader of Eterna City's training gym, pulled out her ringing cell phone.

She flipped it open. "Hello?" she said.

"Gardenia, this is Candice," a female voice said.

"Candice! It's been a long time," exclaimed Gardenia.  
"No time to chat," said the other gym leader. "We're seeing an upheaval of wild Pokemon attacks on major human cities. Every single city in Sinnoh needs to be evacuated, including yours."

"Wild Pokemon attacking humans?" said Gardenia skeptically. "Candice, are you feeling all right?"

"Goddamnit, Gardenia!" shouted the other gym leader. "My city... Snowpoint City... was just iced. We're wiped off the map... Every house is ripped open, Snovers ripping apart frozen bodies in the streets. Do NOT let this happen!"

Gardenia wasn't listening. She stared in horror at the Torterra before her who had impaled her with a massive wooden spike, the Torterra who had been by her side for so many years, the one who had finally turned upon her. The Torterra gave a malicious grin, twisted the spike, and shoved Gardenia's body away.

"The invasion begins, my brothers," growled Torterra. All around him, the asphalt road of Eterna City was beginning to crack and crumble, breaking apart as massive trees forced their way out from beneath the earth.

"Saauuuuuuuur!" bellowed a Venusaur as it smashed its way up through the street pavement. Thick tangles of vines smashed through where Tangrowths emerged. The hideous, clownish heads of Cradilies bashed up through the sidewalk, accompanied by the pyramidal hats and immensely tall bodies of countless Cacturnes.

Trainers and people throughout Eterna halted. All eyes were drawn towards the army of grass pokemon that had burst forth from the ground, glaring maliciously at the humans. They charged at their victims, smashing outwards with trees and vines and seed bombs in all directions, bringing buildings collapsing down to the ground. Screams of panic and terror and pain rang out as Eterna City was retaken by the forest.


	5. The Council

In the southeastern corner of Sinnoh was the second-most technologically advanced city in the region. Its roads were made of solar panels. All energy came from these panels, which were really battery factories. The lighthouse was built to withstand the strongest of tsunamis. The city was surrounded by rocks, except the harbor. It was this city, Sunyshore City, in which Slick made his report.

In the Pokemon Center, Slick sat at a table before his TrainerTool, connected to the Interregional Council in Indigo Plateau. On the screen, Slick could see the other members of the Council gathered around a large platform serving as a table: his brother Chri[s], Champion of Kanto; Ethan Gold, Champion of Johto; Wes, ambassador to Orre; Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh; and Red, the Grand Champion. Engraved into the center of the table was a diamond divided into eight pieces by eight lines which met at the diamond's center.

As Slick gave his report on Hearthome, the other council members began to show signs of anxiety. Then, when Slick mentioned the Gastlys evolving, Chri[s] held his hand up to interrupt. "Wait, Slick. Did you see them attack anyone or anything at all?" Slick shook his head. Chri[s] said, "So it was spontaneous evolution."

Hastings scoffed, "Spontaneous evolution is impossible."

Oak corrected, "Actually, Mewtwo was able to do that, but no one knows what happened to it.."

Wes said, "Is it possible that Mewtwo has reappeared?"

Gold shook his head. "I was part of the team who brought down Team Rocket. I know for a fact that Mewtwo was a misunderstood being, not an arsonist."

Wes protested, "I never said Mewtwo caused the fires. I'm just saying that maybe Mewtwo was around."

"That's highly unlikely, though," Gold said. "Why would it be there?"

Wes said, "I don't know, I'm not Mewtwo. I'm just saying that if Mewtwo is the only being who could do spontaneous evolution, and there was spontan-"

Red cut him off. "I cannot believe that Mewtwo would attack humans. He swore to honor the sacred oath between humanity and Pokemon."

"Again, I never said Mewtwo caused the fires," repeated Wes.

Red said, "However, Mewtwo really did hate humans. Considering that he was a genetic experiment, I couldn't blame him."

Slick decided to clarify a few points. "I never said there weren't any opponents; it's entirely possible that I just couldn't see them."

"Pokemon don't simultaneously evolve at the same time, usually," Oak pointed out.

"So if it's not Mewtwo, who then? Cipher?" snickered Gold. Wes glared at him.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside in the Sunyshore streets...

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Wilsa. "Rex, get back here. Slick didn't want you to wander around."

With a mischievous grin on his face, Rex said, "Slick didn't say we had to stay here, we just can't go to Snowpoint. Also, I'm bored. Let's go!" he said.

Wilsa sighed. "Do you have attention deficit or something?"

He was already gone. Sighing again, she said to herself, "I'd better go after him before he... uh... burns down a house... or... attacks the old Galactic space centers. Nutcase." Rex had some strange obsession with fighting Team Galactic, which had been disbanded one month ago, thanks to Red of Kanto and Wes of Orre.

As Wilsa chased after her younger brother, storm clouds began forming rapidly over Sunyshore City. Lightning bolts began to strike the ground in random places, even in low ground. "Gyhaoooo!" shrieked a yellow creature flying in the sky.

"Rex, get back here!" Wilsa yelled.

"What, what, what?" Rex yelled back, running towards her. "Didn't you hear that?" she asked.

He answered, "Um... nope." Nearby, the streets of Sunyshore began to flood with people.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah man, it was crazy."

"What sorta noise was that?"

Then Rex pointed up. "Hey, it's a big yellow bird... it's Big Bird!" Wilsa groaned.

Suddenly, all the people fell silent. Volkner came out of his gym. "Everybody, get back inside! That is Zapdos, and you do NOT want to be hit! Go home!"

The crowd panicked, running in every direction but ultimately colliding with each other. The Zapdos soared around, dropping thunderbolts all over. Some hit people; others destroyed houses. Volkner pulled out his cell phone, dialing frantically. "This is Volkner, Sunyshore gym leader. We are under attack, I repeat, we are under attack. Just send some evacuation helicop-" His message was cut short as Zapdos hit him with a massive thunderbolt (thunder). He fell to the ground, scorched and dead. The crowd screamed as Volkner's body fell from the cliffs and into the sea.

"Gyaooo!" screeched Zapdos.

"AHHHHHH!" screamed the crowd.

Rex said, "Hey wait. Zapdos is electric. Go Torterra!" He sent out Torterra "Torterra, use Earth Power!" The earth flared up under Zapdos, but did absolutely nothing.

Wilsa sent out Dragonair. "Rex, it's a flying-type. Dragonair, use Thundershock!" Dragonair fired a small thunderbolt at Zapdos, doing minimal damage (2 damage).

"Skreee!" Zapdos screamed. Firing massive thunderbolts, it blasted as many humans as it could... although somehow missing Rex and Wilsa.

A squadron of helicopters reached Sunyshore City. The lead helicopter's door opened, and a man poked his head out of the vehicle while holding a megaphone. "Attention, Sunyshore City. This is a complete evacuation. No one is to be left behind. Please board the helicopters now." Six surrounded Zapdos to subdue it. They fired nets, shot missiles, bombarded it with voltorbs, and did all that they could do to try to subdue Zapdos, or at least stall it. The others dropped rope ladders to pick up the citizens and trainers.

"This is crazy," said Wilsa, climbing up a ladder.

"What's crazy?" asked Rex, right below her.

Wilsa answered, "This whole thing is crazy. Wild Pokemon attacking humans. We lose two Pokemon each. Legendaries attacking cities. Everything is happening too quick, and it's all utterly insane."

Below them, Slick and Sparktail, too, were struggling to climb the ladder.


	6. Instigator

Slick and his Pokemon were huddled together in one of the helicopters that had helped to evacuate Sunyshore City. Slick stared down sadly towards the ruins of Sunyshore, still raked by Zapdos' fury. Why was this happening? Why had the wild Pokemon turned upon humans so ferociously? Slick sighed, placing his head in his hands. "I don't understand..."

Insyte and Sparktail exchanged glances. "There's been a change in the universal aura flow," said the Umbreon softly. "The darkness is growing stronger... it threatens to overpower us."

Sparktail closed his eyes. The air around him was unsettled and disturbed, and every hair in his fur stood upright with fear. It had been as if something desperately clawed at him, something terrible and evil. The feeling had increased gradually for the past hour, and now the clawing had become throbbing. It seemed to press upon Sparktail from every direction now, almost giving him a raw feeling. "It feels oppressive now," said Sparktail. Lyther nodded, as did Insyte, who had not spoken once during the journey.

Suddenly, Slick's TrainerTool gave off a jingle. "New mail," said Slick aloud, flipping open his laptop. He checked his inbox to find a message from his brother. The message consisted of a single line: "Hypothesis confirmed. Mewtwo is involved."

Two weeks ago...

Deep beneath Sinnoh, four men had gathered at a makeshift laboratory. They stood on a giant metal grille which covered the surface of a slowly churning centrifuge. They stood in front of a giant glass capsule which reached down to the centrifuge, and up to the ceiling. Inside, a humanoid creature with gray skin and a purple tail was suspended in a clear solution. This was the genetic fiend of the Cinnabar Mansion heredity experiments, born and raised to fight without mercy: Mewtwo.

"Evice! Do you truly believe that this will work?" asked a man wearing a black cape over a hideously comical outfit. A fugitive from Almia, Mr. Kincaid had worked for the Dim Sun organization, which used the power of a Shadow Generator in its attempted coup of the Almia region, bringing all of the Pokemon in the area under complete control and slavery. They used the power of shadows to bind a Pokemon's will to a machine."

Their Shadow Generator, however, was destroyed when Dim Sun focused the machine upon control of Darkrai. The Shadow Generator's powers were drawn to Darkrai instead of the machine's great Shadow Crystal, and the machine drove Darkrai into insanity. Now all of Kincaid's supervisors- and most of his subordinates- were in prison, and Kincaid was alone.

Next to him, a old, fat man with gray hair spiked and slicked back cackled. "Heh heh heh! You know how successful Cipher once was in the process of power, Kincaid. At the same time, you yourself helped to build a dark matter generator. Doubt not the power of shadow!" It was Evice, the original founder of the Cipher crime syndicate. Like Dim Sun, Cipher had used the power of shadows to conquer great lands. But instead of crudely using the power of shadows to bind a Pokemon's will, Cipher's Shadow Generators simply forced a Pokemon's aura to rebound upon itself, converting it into a Shadow Pokemon. This had made Cipher into a far stronger empire than Dim Sun, for the bond between a Shadow Pokemon and its Cipher peon was nothing more than the common bond of a Trainer and a Pokemon. Though Evice had required the finances of his sucessor Greevil, and the intense research of his Chief Scientist Ein, Evice had come closer than any other man alive to world conquest. Together, Kincaid and Evice had built the strongest Shadow Generator the world had ever seen.

"But I am the one who found the specimen," said a man with a gleam of insanity in his eyes. "It is I who came up with this great plan." This man was Cyrus, one of the few humans who had ever seen Giratina face-to-face. Cyrus was once the leader of Team Galactic, an organization whose goals were once altruistic before Cyrus took it over. They had been a combined energy resource team and observatory which rivaled the Mossdeep Space Center in greatness. The other three men knew that Cyrus was cunning and connivinning, and was impossible to trust. He had been willing to destroy the world and everything in it; he had no emotions, not even true hate for his enemies. The other three villains clung to the unwritten law of honor amongst thieves: the world may despise you, but you still don't betray true friends. Cyrus had no such moral law; his crimes were as numerous as the infamous Giovanni.

The fourth man was staring intently at the control panel in front of him, ignoring his fellow criminals. It was Ardos, the only administrator of Cipher to never be arrested. His face was a symbol of terror and hate in all eight regions; there was not an officer in the world who did not know his name. He and his father Greevil had been behind the resurrection of Cipher and the great upgrades to Cipher's Shadow Generator which led to XD001 and the wide variety of Shadow techniques. And yet, Ardos was a calm and calculating man instead of the insane megalomaniac that the media tried to portray him as. If any person alive fit that description, Ardos thought grimly, it would be Cyrus.

Kincaid said snidely, "And you aren't too good at holding onto your legendaries, are you, Cyrus?"

Cyrus responded, "Neither are you, any of you. Kincaid, your oh-so-great boss couldn't leash a Darkrai even with... what was it, twelve Gigamaros?"

Evice said, "And you had the combined force of Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, and still lost control of Dialga and Palkia!"

"While you lost fourty-eight Pokemon to a single trainer!" spat Cyrus.

"Fourty-eight is a lot harder to control than one!" Evice shot back.

Ardos interrupted. "Shut up, all of you! The process is beginning." All three of them stopped talking and looked up at the capsule. Ardos pressed a button, activating the centrifuge beneath the capsule.

As he did so, they saw a man in a gray hat and suit with a Persian cat at his side pull out a handgun, shooting Kincaid thrice in the back.

"Where did you come from?" shouted Cyrus, pulling a knife out of his pocket.

The man introduced himself. "I am Giovanni, former leader of Team Rocket and that Pokemon in the capsule is MINE." He cocked his pistol.

Evice chuckled. "Not anymore, it's not! We intend to create a new series of Shadow Pokemon with this." Giovanni immediately shot him twice.

"You make me ashamed that I was ever allied with Cipher," he spat, as Evice fell to the ground.

Cyrus, brandishing his knife, sneered, "So you had all the power to rebuild the world, and then rejected it? Fool." He leapt at Giovanni, who was loading a new clip into his pistol. Instantly, Giovanni's Persian pounced on Cyrus, who was taken completely unprepared.

"What have you done?!" roared Giovanni, as he saw the capsule activating. Within the glass chamber, a purple electrical discharge began to flow through Mewtwo's body. Then Ardos pressed another button, and the fluids began to drain away. Giovanni fired four shots at Ardos. Falling to the floor, Ardos said with a vicious grin, "Too late, Giovanni."

The glass wall lowered, and Mewtwo's eyes flickered open. It recognized Giovanni. "YOU!" it bellowed, hovering in the air. Giovanni took a few steps back, unintentionally dropping his gun. He hadn't intended to shoot Mewtwo, but to make amends with it. But now, as a Shadow Pokemon, Mewtwo was beyond reason.

"You... my tormentor, my hunter..."

"Wait, Mewtwo... don't..."

"You, cruelest of humans..."

"Please, Mewtwo... mercy..."

"You deserve no mercy."

Mewtwo raised an arm. Dark flares of energy burst from his arm, blasting Giovanni and sending him sprawling onto the floor. "Mewtwo, stop... you mustn't," pleaded the man as he stared up at the beast. "If you do not stop... You will be seen by the dark eyes-"

Mewtwo ignored him. A vortex of psychic energy formed around its body. "My vengeance has come," it said. Giovanni's Persian leapt to Giovnani's side, baring its teeth at Mewtwo, whose gazed back at the cat coldly. "If you stand with these... humans... You have betrayed every species of Pokemon."

It released the vortex of energy, a massive wave of destruction ripping through the underground facility, cracks forming in the machinery and the rocky ceiling overhead. Falling to the ground, the last thing Giovanni would ever see would be Shadow Mewtwo escaping through the air, up to the surface.


	7. Evacuation

The skies above the three cities in the Battle Zone were filled with dragonites and helicopters carrying refugees from all over Sinnoh.

High up in the clouds, Candice's cell phone rang. Answering it, she said, "Hello?"

"This is Cynthia, Elite of Sinnoh. Candice, as a Gym Leader, your prescence is required at Seabreak Castle."

"Why? What's happened?"

"Well, your city was attacked, despite being such a remote community. Do you really need to ask why?"

"You mean there's been other attacks?"

"Of course. I've come back to Sinnoh personally to oversee the evacuation."

"All right, I'll be there." Candice closed the phone. "Everyone, I've got to go to Seabreak Castle. Could you drop me off there?"

Lance frowned. "You do realize how long of a detour we must take, right?"

"Could I take a different Dragonite, then?" Candice asked.

"Uh, okay..." Lance sat up, calling to another Dragonite. It flew next to theirs, until the wings were almost touching. Lance ordered, "Glide position!" Both dragonites stopped flapping, angling their wings so as to catch wind.

"Their wings are pretty strong; they could hold you," Lance told Candice.

Candice climbed onto the wings, and leapt onto the other Dragonite. Lance gave another command to this other Dragonite. "Southwind, seabreak castle." It gave a soft growl, and began to flap its wings again, turning south towards Seabreak Castle.

Candice called, "Thanks, Lance, I'll tell everyone you said hello." She and her Dragonite flew off in the direction of Seabreak Castle.

* * *

Slick and the others arrived at the Resort Area, finding it packed with evacuees."Hey, were you with the people from Sunyshore?" asked a trainer, approaching Slick. "I'm Eddie, by the way."

Slick shook hands with Eddie. "Yes, I was. My name's Slick."

Eddie nodded. "Ah, I see... by the way, might you know what's going on?"

"I don't know," responded Slick. "Personally, I'm hoping that we get evacuated. It's been a long time since I was in Hoenn."

Eddie nodded. "Personally, I came from Sinnoh. My sister's Candice, you see..."

"Candice? You're Candice's brother?" said Slick, amazed. He looked around. "Where is Candice?"

"Urk... the Champion called her to Seabreak Castle," said Eddie with an edge to his voice, looking down at his shoes. "I mean, I know that she's important to Sinnoh or something. But honestly, I don't care for all this glamor and status. The Candice I know isn't someone I care about because she's famous. I care about her because she's my sister."

"I have a brother," said Slick softly. "He always looked out for me when we were young, making sure we were safe. But then, as we got older, he began to focus on battling. The battles consumed him as he traveled through all the regions. And when I ran into Chris again, he was completely different. "

"Whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Eddie. "Your brother's name is Chris, and you're Slick. You're not the Hoenn Elite, are you?"

Slick was taken aback. "I, well, yes I am... why?"

"You seem so friendly," said Eddie. "You're not bragging, you're not showing off or anything... unlike Cynthia."

As they talked, Slick found that he was taking a liking to Eddie. For the first time since entering Sinnoh, Slick had found someone who he could get along with, who didn't fawn over him for his status... someone he could call a friend.

"Anyway, it's been great talking to you, Slick," said Eddie. He looked away and sighed softly. "Except that I don't have any place to sleep tonight, since Candice is in Seabreak Castle... she had the tent."

Slick offered, "Well, you could stay at my villa."

Eddie's eyebrows raised. "You've got a vacation home?"

Before Slick left for Sinnoh, the gym leader from Ever Grande City and previous Hoenn Elite, Steven Stone, called him up. Steven had owned a villa in the Resort Area, but it had been unused ever since Steven became a gym leader. He had given Slick the villa for free, mailing him the deeds.

As Slick had never been to the Battle Zone before, he hadn't gotten a good look at the vacation house yet. However, Slick had mentioned the house to his cousins, so he would inevitably find Rex and Wilsa there. Sure enough, when he reached his villa, Rex and Wilsa were just outside the door, arguing.

"I'm telling you, Lucario is a legendary Pokemon!" said Rex.

"How is it a legendary? It can mate with other Pokemon!" said Wilsa.

"But Manaphy can mate with a Ditto, and it's legendary!" Rex argued.

"But Manaphy can't make more baby Manaphies, can it?" Wilsa pointed out.

"How would you know? You just started battling," Rex said cynically.

"But you think Pound and Scratch are the same!" replied Wilsa, with just as much cynicism.

"Hello, you two," said Slick, taking both of them by surprise.

"Aah! Slick, where'd you come from?" asked Rex, taking no notice of Eddie.

"Oh good, you're here. Tell Rex how Lucario's not a legendary!" said Wilsa.

"But it IS!" cried Rex. The two began arguing again.

"Excuse me, I need to get inside," said Slick. Walking between them, Slick and Eddie entered the vacation home for the first time.

"Are they always arguing like that?" wondered Eddie.

"Oh yes, definitely," said Slick.

The villa contained two couches, a television, a table, and some other furniture. Looking around, he said to himself, "Didn't Stone say there was just a table inside? Where'd all this come from?" Then on the table, Slick saw a furniture catalog. "Oh, for the love of... those two..." Eddie skimmed the catalog, totaling up the costs. "Let's see... 360,000 Poke!?"

Slick went outside, where the two siblings were still quarreling.

"Why'd you chose an Umbreon? Its attacks suck!"

"Umbreon's not that bad, it took out your Turtwig!"

"It's not that good either, it's worse than Regifire!"

"There's no such thing as Regifire, Rex!"

Slick interrupted. "Hey, you two! You owe me 360,000 Poke! Quit fighting, or go find another place to spend the night!"


	8. Great Shadow

Standing upon a high cliff, Mewtwo watched the gathering crowd of wild Pokemon below in the moonlit fields. Flanked by his Rhydons, he was joined by the Toxicroak of Pastoria with his Carnivine minions, a Scizor with an army of Lickitungs, the horde of Haunters swarming in the sky. Below the cliffs were hundreds of Pokemon from the wilds of Sinnoh, staring up towards the pale figure who now commanded the land with his bronze staff, awaiting his commands. When Mewtwo did not speak to them, the crowd began to grow discontent, and a few dared to approach him, but were quickly repelled by his psi-bolts.

Below the cliff, the waters of the sea began to boil and froth as shadows emerged from the depths of the sea, a pair of burning red eyes, writhing tendrils like an Ursaring's calves, a mouth like a Lucario's muzzle, ten lights and ten voices who whispered their curses against the starry heavens. Then, as Mewtwo bowed low to the darkness, the illusion shuddered and dissolved, leaving nothing but formless shadow. Rising from the depths, black against the cold gray waters, the shadow slipped up onto the cliff's edge, towering high over them all. Slowly, the Pokemon of the wilderness bowed their heads to the great darkness who gazed before them with unseen power, whose twisted figure could not be described or defined.

"All remember me, but none truly know me," said the great shadow softly, his words like chilled flame, slipping through the crowd like subtle mist, searing into the hearts of the listening Pokemon. "All things know my bloody scent; all things know my fading cry. All things know the grip of my numbing touch; all know the nameless, unseen gaze of death."

The terrible red eyes glowed stronger, beginning to pulsate like a beating heart.  
"Know this: I am he who was exiled; I am he who was tormented since the dawn of time. I am your leader, your teacher, your king..." The moonlight washed pale the faces of the watching Pokemon, all thoughts of hiding gone, all instinct rewritten. "I am he who shall avenge you against Man, they who imprison you, who swallows your rightful homelands..."

None dared to tear their minds from the exiled one now; for the eyes promised glory, and the words promised justice, a thousand scars born where peace had once been sown."No Pokemon can match the cruelty, the cold-hearted selfishness of humanity," said the great shadow as he advanced upon the Pokemon on the hill. Team Rocket and Cipher, Team Galactic and Team Plasma; when humans gather, only . Even now, the sanest and brightest of humans would have you chained and imprisoned, fettered and shackled!" Every last one of the Pokemon hearing this roared in approval.

"But you know this already, for you have lived in this world longer than I. For I, who have lived in the depths of hell for eons, cannot purge this world alone. But when you heard my summons, all of you answered the call. Every last one of you has shown loyalty to the good of all Pokemon. It is you who understood the truth, you who are pure, and who shall cleanse this world. Join this crusade, and our cause shall become one, and your dreams of vengeance shall become reality!"

Stepping forward, Mewtwo raised his staff high, chanting the Exile's words to the Pokemon below until they too began to echo the shadow's words. But many held back, clinging to the scales of a great Tyranitar in the center of the crowd, who stared up at the Exiled one with fear, not yet ready to commit himself.

"Rise, O white tyrant."

The Tyranitar's scales turned pale with fear as it realized the Exiled one gazed upon him. "Do not flee," commanded the great shadow, locking eyes with the great warrior. "A king of the wilderness, a commander of vast powers! Do you think yourself worthy of this cause, to stand beside me? To strike at the vile race that birthed your captors and enslaved you? Only swear this! By bloodshed and violence, our captors forever crushed; by our carnal flesh, reclaim the world that they touched."

There was a long silence as the crowd turned to stare at the Tyranitar, who stood spellbound in the allure of the Exiled one's promises, trapped between the memories of one man's decency and another man's greed. "By carnage and chaos, our captors forever crushed," echoed the Tyranitar faintly. "By our carnal flesh... reclaim the world that they touched."

"Yes!" cried the great shadow with savage joy. "Now stand beside me, Tyrant; and you shall drink of my power, my legacy... your desires." The Tyranitar, still trembling, waded through the other Pokemon to the cliff on which the Exiled One stood. As it climbed the cliff, the other Pokemon below- Scythers, Kricketunes, Bibarels, Hippopowdons, Bastidoons, Rampardoses- began to chant, faint at first, fed strength with every step the Tyranitar took, growing more and more violent, until snarling war cries echoed across the mountains of Sinnoh.

* * *

Cynthia walked down the hallway and into the conference room where the surviving gym leaders of Sinnoh were gathered. "Bombed," she muttered ominously.

Byron asked, "What's going on?"

Cynthia said grimly, "Jublife was bombed."

Byron's calm completely broke. He began to panic, pacing around the room. "No... oh no..." he groaned.

Cynthia asked, "What's the problem?"

Byron did not reply. Maylene answered for him. "Roark didn't come back from Jublife."

"I have further bad news," said Cynthia, placing a map of Sinnoh down on the conference table. "Look. We're being surrounded..."

* * *

"Hey," said Slick quietly from where he sat at his desk, his eyes focused on his TrainerTool. "If any of you are awake, come and look at this." The Raichu glanced up, then joined his trainer.

"Last night, I received an e-mail from my brother. According to the global PokeNav system, Jublife City was bombed. Attached was a video of the whole thing. It gave me chills, but it was important." Slick angled his laptop so that Sparktail could see the screen.

At first, the camera showed Jublife City from overhead as expected. Gradually, it began to descend as if viewed from a helicopter. An armyof Haunters flew down towards Jublife City, each holding an Electrode. But that wasn't all. In the center of the Haunters was a large dragon with completely black wings. Its gray body and red-and-gold striped chest brought to mind the most grotesque of beings (other than Jynx). It had a triangular helmet with crescent horns, six red claws coming from its wings, and six legs. "What is that thing?"

The dragon opened its mouth, roaring. Each of the Haunters then dropped the Electrodes upon the city. The camera looked back down at the city, watching as each of the Electrodes fell to earth exploded upon impact. The explosions caused damage only to a small part of the city. But then, several houses nearby seemed to catch fire spontaneously. "Gas vents," whispered Slick.

Then another group of Haunters arrived, holding more Electrodes. "Oh no..." The dragon looked at them, roaring again. In the center of the haunters, a white and purple humanoid creature. that could only be Mewtwo, was hovering above the turned to face the dragon, and then bowed before it. The new haunters dropped their destructive cargo upon the city. Then the three legendary birds came into view. The video ended as the dragon saw the camera, and struck it with a hyper beam.

"Giratina... the exiled one," said Slick darkly. "According to ancient Sinnoh legends, Giratina was created at the beginning of time by Arceus along with Dialga and Palkia, the rulers of time and space. It was later imprisoned for its violent and warlike approach to conflicts. Apparently, Giratina has not lost that nature since."

Alarmed, Sparktail stared at his trainer. "You're probably wondering what he wants," said Slick. "If we knew that, though, the war might never have started. Giratina is an alien being who cannot be comprehended, only acknowledged. No one knows why this war has begun, and that makes Giratina all the more deadly."

Sparktail watched as Slick then double-clicked a flashing mail icon in the corner of his laptop's screen, opening up a new window. It was an e-mail from Cynthia, and its words were short but ominous: "Giratina is coming for us... have _fun_ in Hoenn."


	9. Invasion

Slick leapt to his feet, picked up his backpack, and ran out the door. "Slick!" cried Sparktail, scampering after him, even though the human could not understand him. "Wait up! Where are you going?"

Outside, Slick pulled a Poke Ball off his belt. "Let's go, Skarmory," he said, jabbing the button. The ball opened, releasing a flash of light which solidified into Skarmory. "Skreee!" she cried, yawning. Slick climbed up onto Skarmory. "Let's fly."

Silently, Sparktail tugged at his Trainer's leg, staring until Slick looked down at him. "Get up here," he ordered. "I'll explain in a moment." Utterly confused, Sparktail obeyed.

Skarmory began to flap its wings, and they steadily rose into the air. "South," Slick ordered. The Skarmory then turned towards the south, and they soared off through the sky.

Sparktail tightly grasped Skarmory's steel feathers. "We're not running away, Sparktail," said Slick. "We're going to Seabreak Castle."

Sparktail almost lost his grip from his surprise. Was he crazy? Giratina probably had the place surrounded. Cynthia told them to get out of Sinnoh...

The Battle Zone disappearing on the horizon, Slick's anger was slowly replaced by determination. "We're going to get Candice and the others of there," said the Trainer. "The evacuation helicopters won't reach them in time; there's just no possible way."

Wait... Candice?

* * *

Giratina's army had surrounded the castle. He had divided his army into two contingents, one led by Mewtwo and another led by Tyranitar. Tyranitar was attacking from the north, while Mewtwo was atttacking from the south. The army contained a wide variety of Pokemon species: Haunters, Rhydons, all three birds, Armaldos, Torterras, Electivires, Yanmegas, Infernapes, and Giratina's two generals. Giratina himself watched the battle from above. To his surprise, some wild Pokemon had joined the humans, daring to oppose him, Giratina!

Cynthia and the four gym leaders were the only humans left in Seabreak Castle. They were despairing, unaware that there were wild Pokemon on their side. All of them sent out every Pokemon they were carrying, which made giving commands extremely difficult. Only two humans were actually fighting, however: Maylene with martial arts, and Byron with his spade. Byron was hacking away at Tyranitar, while his Steelix was fighting with three Haunters. Maylene's and Cynthia's Lucarios were fighting back-to-back, in the middle of a group of Armaldos. Flint and Infernape were surrounded by Electivires. Mewtwo was fighting Cynthia's Garchomp. Candice, the lucky one, had her Weavile sniping Yanmegas with ice shards. The rest of the Pokemon were pretty much on their own.

Giratina was able to drive the humans back with sheer numbers. Then, as if the gym leaders were not doing poorly enough, the three birds entered the fray. Maylene got hit by both Zapdos' and Moltres' attacks. Mewtwo used its powers to pull Maylene's Poke Balls to him. As Toxicroak had done in Pastoria City, Mewtwo released all of the Pokemon within and destroyed the capsules. Almost instantly, a Medicham and a Machoke turned around and began attacking the humans. Maylene's Lucario, on the other hand, fell to its knees as Maylene's aura faded, and then stood back up and continued to fight for the humans. Moltres and three Infernapes easily overwhelmed Gardenia's Cherrim and Roserade. Infernape and Flint followed soon after.

Now down to three trainers and twelve Pokemon, Cynthia, Byron, and Candice retreated to the front of the castle with their Pokemon. "We're out of hope, completely," said Cynthia. "If only Drifblim could have carried us all across the ocean..."

Byron suggested, "We could unleash several earthquakes at the same time while Drifblim kept us off the ground."

At that exact moment, four shadow balls flew through the air and hit Drifblim, sending it spiraling to the floor.

"Return, Drifblim," ordered Cynthia, feeling defeated.

"So we're doomed," said Byron.

Candice shook her head. "We can't give up. There's got to be a way..."

Tyranitar and all of the Rhydons had climbed to the top of the waterfall. Byron leapt at Tyranitar, swinging his spade. Tyranitar unleashed a massive earthquake at that exact moment. Behind the trainers, Seabreak Castle began to fall apart. Unwittingly, Tyranitar had also hit and knocked out all of the Rhydons behind him. But as far as Tyranitar was concerned, nothing mattered except that Byron was dead. Tyranitar cackled maniacally.

Using its knowledge of the human language, Tyranitar began to speak to them. "Humans..." it said. "You have already lost. I am the Lord of Oppression, the Rider of Pestilence, the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse. And you... you are naught but weaklings, who tricked your way to power. Now, you shall be crushed in the coming of our new world." Tyranitar raised its arm, its eyes and diamond-shaped chest beginning to glow.

Candice ordered, "Weavile, Brick Break!" Her Weavile leapt at Tyranitar, who tightened its other hand into a fist, smashing into the weasel's head. "Weav!" it cried, falling to the floor.

Cynthia ordered, "Spiritomb, Silver Wind!" As Spiritomb released the silvery wind, however, a glowing barrier appeared around Tyranitar. The silver powder rebounded off the barrier and struck Spiritomb with twice the original energy. "Kwannn-niiiing..." it screeched, and collapsed into its Odd Keystone. Then, a flash of light, similar in appearance to that which came from a Poke ball, burst forth from Tyranitar's chest. Tyranitar vanished, and the light solidified into a gargantuan Pokemon...

* * *

Slick, Sparktail, and Skarmory were approaching Seabreak Castle. "Something's wrong," said Slick, still deadly serious. Then, the castle came into view. "Wha... whoa.. how..." stammered Sparktail. The building had caved in, and gaping holes were visible in its walls. "What could have happened?"

Slick was staring at the castle. "Oh no... please, let them be still alive... hang in there..."

The waterfall was visible now. Bodies were floating in the pool below it. Above it, two people were being attacked by a giant Pokemon the size of a small hill, with limbs the size of tree trunks. It had a white body with four yellow ridgesl. "Where have I seen that Pokemon before?"

Then, it remembered a picture from Slick's books. "This... this is Regigigas!"

As Regigigas raised both of its massive arms, Skarmory flew right into the legendary, striking it with both wings. Slick leapt off of Skarmory, leaving Sparktail on the bird. Slick threw two Poke Balls out. "Go, Leafeon and Lucario!"

Thalia and Lucario appeared in two flashes of light. "Leaf Blade and Aura Sphere!" Slick ordered. While Thalia and Lucario attacked Regigigas, Cynthia noticed Slick. "Slick! What are you doing here? You're supposed to get everyone out!"

Slick said. "I'll explain later. Get on Skarmory for now." Then to Lucario, he ordered, "Now use Psychic!"

While Slick's Lucario fired its psychic blast, both Candice and Cynthia recalled all of their Pokemon, and climbed onto Skarmory with Thalia. Thalia was looking up at the sky. "That dragon..." she murmured. Sparktail followed her gaze. High above them in the sky was Giratina. "I knew I wasn't imagining it."

Regigigas raised both arms, about to hit Lucario with SuperPower. Slick swore. "Return, Lucario!" he called, withdrawing Lucario. With Lucario's Poke Ball in his hand, Slick climbed onto Skarmory. Still suffering from its slow start ability, Regigigas lumbered towards them.

Slick asked Cynthia sharply, "Where's everyone else?"

Cynthia lowered her head. "They're all dead."

Slick looked at Skarmory. "Alright then, let's go!" Skarmory flapped its wings, and they once more ascended into the sky.

Candice said, "There was a Tyranitar. It called itself the Rider of Pestilence-"

And then, Giratina saw Skarmory and her riders. It flew at Skarmory, firing two shadow balls at her. Skarmory was only able to dodge the shadow balls by doing a barrel roll, which her riders were almost completely unprepared for. Thalia slipped off, Sparktail barely grabbing her. Slick and Cynthia were forced to use both hands to stay on Skarmory, and the Poke Balls in their hands fell down to earth as Skarmory soared over the Seabreak Path.

"No- RUSH!"


	10. Mystic of Hope

"Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful that you would come rescue us," said Candice as she and Slick walked side-by-side through the meadow on Route 229. "Honestly, we owe you our lives. But..."

Slick smiled sheepishly, his heart pounding slightly. "Thank you. I really wish I got there sooner-"

"But the fact is that I shouldn't be alive," said Candice. "You should have should have returned to Hoenn. You belong in Hoenn. You live in Ho"

"I couldn't have," said Slick, his voice trembling. "I couldn't have left. I was the only one who knew that you were in trouble. You'd be dead-"

"Slick, don't you understand?" exclaimed Candice. "Giratina's armies are approaching Hoenn. There's an entire region out there who needs you. You are an Elite of Hoenn. You need to be with your people, to rally the war cry-"

Slick shook his head. "No, don't YOU understand? Candice, you're irreplacable. You're a famous trainer, someone who so many children looked up to be like." He placed his hands on a stunned Candice's shoulders. "Candice... I-"

"Oh, Slick! There you are," called Lance, approaching them. Slick and Candice froze and turned slowly towards Lance.

"I'm sorry, what's going on?" asked Slick, withdrawing from Candice.

"First of all," said Lance, his eyes flickering back and forth between Candice and Slick. "Your cousins have left for Orre."

"I see," said Slick. "Well, good riddance to them both."

"Also," continued Lance. "There's a Mew in your vacation home."

* * *

As they sat huddled together on the living room rug in Slick's villa, Sparktail, Thalia, Insyte, and Skarmory stared at each other numbly, unsure of what to say. "I... I can't believe it," murmured Thalia finally, her usually cheerful voice subdued as she looked around the . "There's only the four of us left now..." One by one, all of our friends are vanishing...

"Rush has always been there," whispered Insyte, staring down at his paws. And Lyther's gone too. He was the only one who ever really stood up for me. "Rush had a stronger bond with Slick than any of us. How will Slick cope now without him?"

Sparktail felt bleak and fearful. Rush was the very first Pokemon that Slick ever had, as they all knew. He hadn't always been the friendliest member, but the Swampert had been there for Slick and for them whenever they needed him. He cared about us like brothers. And Lyther too... Lyther was like a brother too...

Finally, Ferricia broke the silence. "Thalia, the dragon you saw in Hearthome City-" began the Skarmory, looking straight at the Leafeon, her voice bleak and grim. "We were wrong to doubt you. We should have paid more attention to your warnings..." Sparktail looked up at Ferricia, who continued, "I think Cynthia and Candice called it Giratina..."

The Skarmory trailed off. Blinking, Sparktail perked his ears. He could hear an odd sound resonating from the center of the room, a shining pink light began to glow, slowly taking the shape of a hovering feline Pokemon with pink fur. It had a long tail and soft blue eyes. "Myuu?"

"What on earth is going on here?" Sparktail, Thalia and Insyte turned around to see Slick standing in the open doorway of the villa. He stared at the Mew. "A Mew... one of the last of your kind," murmured Slick, approaching Mew.

"Slick," said Mew softly, turning her head to look at Slick. "Slicksten Silversky, Elite of Hoenn..." A shiver ran down Slick's spine, and he stepped back in confusion.

"You, who bears a darkest destiny of all," murmured Mew. "You must return to your homeland..."

"Mew, what is happening to this world?" asked Slick. "Why? Why has Giratina declared war on us?"

Mew continued to steadily rotate where it hovered in the air. It closed its eyes. "Giratina... his tale begins eons ago. Long, long ago, at the dawn of time, Arceus was born. He took eight souls, whose lives were honest, who gave all that they had and asked for nothing in return. Eight tanuki who would surely wither and die without his blessings. And yet, they would become the very columns of the foundation of this world."

"Seven of them were guardians, protectors of the world. There was Dialga, the king of time. Palkia, Sovereign of Space. Ho-oh, the Phoenix of Flame. Groudon, the Titan of Earth. Kyogre, the Leviathan of the Oceans. Lugia, the Silver Summoner. Rayquaza, the Master of the Sky." She took a deep breath. "Yet the eighth of them all was neither valorus nor honorable. For it was Giratina, Exile of Shadow. Arceus divided this world into seven parts, and distributed them amongst the first seven, according to the auras. Yet Giratina, whose only gifts were that of hate, vengeance, and malice, seemed to be too untrustworthy for Arceus to bestow upon it a territory. And thus it gave Giratina control over the world of Chaos, the Distortion World."

"Time and time again, Giratina sent minions forth from its lair to conquer territory from the others. Each time, its efforts grew more and more successful, his armies' power extending. And then, at last he succeeded, plunging the world into darkness. Time came to a stop. The winds died; the sun never rose... it was the complete ruin of the world."

Thalia and Insyte shrank away from Mew, their fur bristling. Slick stared, overwhelmed by all that Mew had said. Sparktail opened and closed his mouth, the words which Mew spoke sending chills down his spine. He knew those words all too well, for these were the words of a Dusknoir whom once he trusted... a Dusknoir who betrayed him, and yet by whose actions Sparktail had discovered his true self. If the words that Mew had spoken were true, then had his adventures in the long-distant past been in vain? For he had gone through so much to prevent the world from falling into darkness... yet Giratina had brought the world under shadows, three thousand years after Sparktail's time.

"But then, many years later," said Mew. "A lone human met a Pokemon, a Pokemon who opposed Giratina. Together, the two worked together as one. They stopped Giratina, throwing him down from his throne of evil, and sealing him in the Distortion World forever. In doing so, they sealed a pact between humans and Pokemon... but it would lead Giratina to swear eternal vengeance upon the human race. And even now, two thousand years later, Giratina still hates humanity."

"This is terrible," cried Slick, his face strained. "Surely there is nothing we can do?"

"Come here," said Mew, extending a paw. "And I will send you home. For there, you must lead your people in defense against the Exile..." Memories of Hoenn materialized in Slick's mind as Mew spoke, a vast swathe of tranquil lands dotted by boulders and tress and rivers and grasses, by houses and streets and walkways and gates, by nature and mankind thriving together in harmony...

Sparktail, Thalia, Insyte, Ferricia, and Slick reached for Mew's paw. There was a flash of light, and the Villa began to melt away from their vision, Mew's voice echoing in their minds: "By holy prophecy formed of sages untold, Or ancient legend spoken in times of old; Together, Pokemon must unite as one, Lest vengeance make the world undone..."


	11. City of Dust

Slick and his Pokemon appeared in the middle of a city, right in front of the Pokemon Center. All around them, the city was in a state of chaos. People were swarming in every direction. Sparktail could see a blue hammerhead dragon whose wings were attached to the bottom of its arms, as well as an army of Rhydons, attacking people. The dragon was crushing and smashing open a wide path of destruction. It was trampling humans and cars, devastating houses and other buildings. The Rhydons, which had seemed so oppressive at Snowpoint, seemed almost as insignificant as a Magikarp compared to this terrible beast.

"Mew said I would be home," said Slick slowly. "But... I was born in Viridian City, We're not there, and Garchomps don't live there... Where are we."

Chunks of a collapsing building fell towards them. "Run!" ordered Slick, realizing he couldn't get to his Poke Balls in time. Slick, Sparktail, and Thalia all ran off into the street. As the falling debris impacted the ground, rock shrapnel flew through the air. Shaking the ground with each step, and yet moving faster than anything Sparktail had ever seen before, Garchomp charged through the city, launching itself towards the largest building.

"The building... that logo..." mumbled Slick. "Oh no..."

"Devon Corporation," read the Umbreon, examining the sign atop the building. "Rustboro City..."

Slick looked ill. "Hoenn. Giratina has reached Hoenn."

Garchomp was joined by five Rhydons. They surrounded the building, smashing at the walls vigorously. The surprise of seeing Garchomp had worn off. Sparktail looked up at his trainer. Slick stood there, not moving, maintaining the same expression of shock and terror. Sparktail said "Slick, we've got to move."

Slick slowly closed his eyes, then opened them. "Right... I'm the Hoenn Elite... I can't afford to lose focus." He stumbled through the chaotic streets and to the Garchomp, Sparktail and Thalia following him.

Slick said, "There could still be people in there. As Hoenn Elite, I'm honor-bound to get them out safely."

A voice behind him pointed out, "But you don't need to be alone."

Sparktail and Slick turned around. It was Steven Stone. "Steven, what are you doing here?" Slick asked.

Steven Stone replied, "I don't think now's the time."

Then, Slick looked back at Garchomp, who had not taken notice of them, but continued to tremble the earth and the Devon Corporation building. "You should go after Garchomp. I'll take out the Rhydons." Steven nodded, sending out a Metagross and an Aggron. He and his Pokemon charged at Garchomp.

Slick, Sparktail, and Thalia approached a pair of Rhydons, one of which was larger than the other. Under Slick's orders, Thalia wove together vines into a leaf blade, brutally KO'ing the smaller Rhydon. The larger Rhydon charged at Sparktail, and tripped over Sparktail's grass knot and into unconsciousness.

They moved onto Rhydon #3, who had paused in its demolition to prepare a flamethrower attack. Thalia leapt backwards to dodge the flames. Slick ordered Sparktail to use hidden power once more. Before Sparktail could act, the Rhydon bashed an arm into Sparktail, sending him flying. Sparktail used Magnet Rise to cushion his fall.

Thalia, dodging additional flamethrower attacks, rolled behind the Rhydon and struck it with a leaf blade. With the Rhydon falling to the ground, Sparktail (still floating in the air), Thalia, and Slick moved on. But before they could find the two remaining Rhydons, the ground began to shake. Slick looked up. "Oh no... the building's collapsing!"

Bricks and stones began to fall, the foundation of the building breaking apart. The three of them ran back to the front of the building. Steven Stone was lying on the ground before Garchomp. Garchomp was laughing maniacally, the building still collapsing. The other two Rhydons had joined Garchomp at either side. Garchomp spoke. "Fool! You are nothing, human. For you are a simple rock collector, while I am Garchomp, Lord of Devastation, the Rider of War, the second of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!"

Garchomp raised its arms, preparing to drive its fin-wings into Steven Stone. Then a leaf blade slashed him across his fiery red chest. "Yah!" shouted Thalia. Sparktail, meanwhile, was shooting Hidden-Power energy blasts at the Rhydons. Slick ducked under Thalia and Garchomp, dragging Steven Stone off to the side. Steven opened his eyes, sat up, and combed the dust out of his silver hair.

He said, head in his hands, "Slick, I failed. You've got to find my father!"

Slick told Steven, "Don't worry. I'll get your dad out." He ran towards the doors.

Sparktail struck down one Rhydon. Then, the other Rhydon kicked Sparktail into the air, who flew through a hole in one of the collapsing Devon building's walls. A few minutes later, Thalia landed next to him, kicked by Garchomp similarly. Sparktail got to his feet. Looking around, he realized that they were on the third floor, which was completely abandoned and also covered with debris from the destroyed ceiling.

"Where do you think everyone else went?" Thalia wondered.

Sparktail was not listening. Some strange feeling came from the center of the room, where there was the remains of a large glass display case. "Do you feel that?" he asked.

After a moment, Thalia responded. "Yes... I think so."

Trying to stay upright on the shaking floor, they went to the case's platform. Sparktail climbed onto Thalia's head, and onto the case. Resting on the platform was a rectangular stone tablet which was grey and white. Engraved into the tablet were a set of runes in an ancient Pokemon script. "Fire and water and earth and sky, time and space and dreaming eye," read Sparktail aloud, staring at the words. "At the ancient hero's mythic call, by spark and leaf the shadows fall..."

The tremors became extremely violent, and Sparktail was pitched off the platform, barely having time to grab the tablet. He landed next to Thalia, and their combined weights caused the floor beneath them to cave in. They landed on the second floor, just as Slick reached the same room. He called to them. "Sparktail, Thalia! There you are! This building is about to collapse; let's go!" They ran out of the building as it gradually turned to rubble behind them.

Outisde, a man in a suit was standing next to Steven Stone. It was Mr. Stone, the president of Devon Corporation. Father and son, they watched the building collapse. Garchomp was nowhere to be seen, but his minions continued to destroy Rustboro City. The streets were still streaming with fleeing people.

Slick greeted them. "Mr. Stone, I am glad to see that you escaped the building." Steven and his father both nodded, but continued to stare at the fall of Devon Corporation. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stone... we couldn't salvage your company."

Dazed. the man looked back at Slick. He shook his head sorrowfully. "Is that all you care about, young man?" asked Mr. Stone, looking out at the destruction. There were tears in his eyes. "Rustboro... they're innocent people here, boy. Innocent people... They didn't stand a chance."

Slick and Steven sent out their Skarmories. Slick handed Steven a revival pill, who fed it to Skarmory. Then Slick looked back at his two Pokemon. "Return, both of you," he said, activating both of their Poke Balls. As Sparktail and Thalia disappeared into their flashes of light, the three humans could be seen climbing onto Skarmory, and to safety.


	12. Iron Defenses

A Skarmory landed on a high plateau within Sootopolis City. Slick and Sparktail climbed down from Skarmory's back, and Slick recalled Skarmory. The ledge on which he stood had been the location of the old Sootopolis training Gym, before Wallace moved it to the center of the city's lake. The old gym building had been refurbished about twenty years ago as a military fortress in case Hoenn ever went to war, as Ever Grande City was too remote of a location to centralize regional operations.

Within the building, anxious men and women sat at terminals alongside their trusted Pokemon, paws and hands clutched for comfort. Then, as soon as Slick entered, everyone inside dropped their activities, fell silent, and stared at Slick. Then one person yelled, "He's back!" Everyone stood up and came towards Slick, welcoming him back or complimenting him, thumping him on the back. Slick was overwhelmed at taking the spotlight again; as he hadn't been the center of attention since he joined the League. "The Elites of Hoenn are reunited!"

"Friends! Whatever happens next, we'll drive out Giratina and his army," promised Slick nerviously, looking around the room. "We'll prove to the world that Hoenn shall not fall!" Everyone cheered and clapped, and Slick and Sparktail continued into the elevator.

* * *

The elevator descended underground, carrying Slick and Sparktail down into the old caldera's depths towards Slick's central base of operations. One by one, the other Elites looked up as Slick and Sparktail entered the room. "Hoenn Elite Slicksten, reporting for duty," said Slick with as much composure as he could muster, taking a deep breath as they rose to their feet to greet him. Sparktail glanced around the room- its steel-plated walls were lined with control panels and various computer terminals. And standing between Norman and Drake was-

"Rush! You're alive!" exclaimed Slick, running towards the Swampert and embracing him. Rush's eyes widened at the sight of his trainer, his mouth opened in surprise as Slick hugged him tightly. Norman and Steven chuckled; the corner of Drake's mouth twitched with amusement. "Oh god... you're safe," said Slick, his eyes closing. "We all thought you might have died..."

Steven Stone smiled grimly. "It seems Rushing River swam all the way from Sinnoh to Sootopolis," commented the Champion, adjusting his shirt. "Slick, you really have one truly dedicated Swampert here- a Swampert that would travel two hundred miles to find you."

As he settled down on a rolling chair, Slick glanced around the room- Drake and Norman seemed to be eyeing him with some measure of respect. Not the respect of an underling to a superior, of course- but the respect of an equal And that brought a smile to the young Elite's face. "So... what's the status on the region, sir?" asked Slicksten Silversky, recalling Sparktail as Rush settled down beside his chair.

"It could be worse," said Steven, twiddling his thumbs and looking down at the sterile-steel floor. "The leader of the armies in Hoenn appears to be the red-scaled Garchomp that you saw in Rustboro City. From various reports, we suspect that he was Cynthia's Garchomp- because 'he' is actually a female. She currently has seven Rhydons at her disposal, backed up by a slew of Carnivines and Yanmegas."

"In Mossdeep City, helicopters were assembled for mass evacuation," said Norman. "However, Mossdeep City was bombed at the same time as the attack on Rustboro City, and we lost more than half of our helicopter fleet. In the northwest, Fallarbor and Lavaridge are of such remote locations and such small settlements that the chance of an attack there is slim to none. It was agreed that the same applied to Dewford and Fortree. We're evacuating some of the smaller towns to Mauville City, though."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Slick, thinking. "That city's not such a good place to defend. It could be bombed, attacked on all four sides, and all the roads make it too easy to surround. Also, it's more of a residential area than say, a city."

"Hold it," interrupted Drake, striding forward. "Mauville City was given prime defenses- barbed wire, spikes, soldiers, automatic weapons; the whole nine yards. We have the best military experts stationed there too- Watson and Lieutenant Surge both. They'd easily fare well against the Red Dragon and her Rhydons."

"Fellow Elites, I would think that Sootopolis is a much safer place," replied the trainer, looking around the room. "The minerals which make up this mountain have a very dense composition. The first thing the Red Dragon will try to do is drill through the mountain, but it'll take hours to get any headway- which is more than enough time for snipers to pick them off."

"Wallace suggested evacuations to Sootopolis as well, Slick, but it'll be a logistic nightmare to pull off with the helicopters that we have now," said Norman, shaking his head. "No, Mauville is a much more accessible place for people to evacuate to. And quite frankly, I think people would rather shelter there."

Steven Stone, though, looked thoughtful. "Yes, but he's right in how safely fortified Sootopolis is," commented the Champion, crossing his arms. "The crater at the top of the mountain- we've got those titanium shutters that we installed after the weather crisis. The only issue that remains, of course, is the underwater passage." Then to Slick's confused look, the Steel-type Master explained, "Wallace detected a Wailord roaming out in the oceans, in places that the Wailord herds never dwell. We can only presume that it's Giratina's doing."

"But that doesn't solve the problem with logistics- there's no way we can house an entire region's people in Sootopolis," replied Drake, snickering as he glanced around the room- Norman, Steven, and Slick all glanced to the salty old Elite. "But I think I've got a few ideas. Suppose we evacuate people to Slateport and Lilycove, and then use every watercraft available to bring everyone to Sootopolis? Or there's the Mauville River- we could evacuate both Fortree and Mauville by sending vessels up there."

Slick looked pleased that they were taking his ideas- but Steven Stone quickly gave him a stern look. "Let's not forget, though, that even if all of this is possible- it doesn't mean it'll all happen," warned the Master Trainer darkly. "Not everyone in Hoenn wants to hide from the Red Dragon. Because quite a few people, it seems- even those who will almost certainly die if they do- want to fight the Exile to the bitter end."

* * *

The defenses surrounding Mauville were impressive, to say the least. Two-foot thick steel walls surrounded the city, with electrical fencing and barbed wire surrounding Mauville. Watson and Lietuenant Surge, old comrades from the cAmerican military back in the day, were in charge of the city's defense. Each soldier had the four basic Pokemon of the military: Magnemite, Foretress, and Octillery. Each soldier also carried an automatic rifle, which had been mass-produced thanks to the Council and several confiscated blueprints found in Celadon's Game Corner basement a few years ago. (A few also came from Mahogany Town's Poke Mart basement, the space center in Veilstone, and the cave near Lilycove.) There were four pairs of large steel doors, one for each road. As per Steven's original plan, Mauville City had been overcrowded with refugees. However, as per Slick's plan, many of these people had left on the submarines in the river on Route 118.

Garchomp came marching over the horizon on Route 117, leading seven Rhydons and a horde of Carnivines, Yanmegas, Dusclopses, Macargoes, and Venemoths. She lifted her monstrous maw to the sky and screamed; at once, a cluster of Drapions swooped upon the city from the south, followed by a herd of Ludicolos emerging from the river to the east.

Alarms blared. Hundreds of soldiers swarmed to their positions with their Pokemon, establishing a massive perimeter around the entire city. Bullets and energy bursts streamed forth from the walls of Mauville as the Red Dragon assaulted the city on all four sides.. Loyal Linoones scurried across the streets, back and forth between the ammunition pile and their trainers, determined to protect their land from the Exile.

Garchomp's army retaliated, throwing giant boulders, and firing shadow balls/fireballs/razor leaves/signal beams. Humans and Pokemon of both sides were killed. The attacking army retreated, and the humans regrouped and/or reloaded. Then Garchomp led another charge, suffered casualties, retreated, charged again, was driven back again, and so on and so forth.

Furious, Garchomp and the remnants of her army regrouped on Route 117..One by one the Dusclops es gathered in a line before Mauville City, opened their bodies, tossing their top halves backwards like hatches. Humans stared in horror as a horde of Haunters floated out from the Dusclopses' insides, carrying Electrodes in their arms, eyes gleaming with violet hatred.

Garchomp roared, pointing both claws towards Mauville City. The entire army ran towards the town in perfect formation. "Hold your position!" yelled Watson, pointing at Garchomp and her deadly force. "Shoot the Electrodes! Don't let a single Haunter get too close! Come on, boys!" The soldiers obeyed and opened fire. Delcattys, Manectrics, Vulpixes, Mightyenas, Absols, and a hundred more Pokemon joined their trainers' sides, all heeding the commander's orders, all striking out with every last burst of energy at the bombing fleet, knowing that one missed shot would spell their doom.

Black smoke filled the air as Electrodes exploded on the ground, raining agony upon the soldiers' ears, accompanied by unearthly shrieks as murderous wraiths tumbled through the air, the Red Dragon's furious roars a siren to death and destruction. Rhydons, Drapions, and Ludicolos charged through the haze; but bit by bit, Garchomp and her army of death were forced back, the threat of bombing raids gone.

As he saw the snarling, retreating figure of the Red Dragon and her cruel forces into the distance, the turf of Route 117 torn to pieces, a Manectric padded out from the gate of Mauville City, his blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. Then, glancing back over his shoulder to his trainer- Watson- he curled the corner of his muzzle up into a smile, lifted his maw to the sky, and let out a triumphant howl.

* * *

The Red Dragon stood tall atop the rim of Mount Chimney's summit, watching the lake of magma swirling within the volcano's crater below her. Two villages were visible off in the distance through the the shadows of dusk; one was in a field of ashes, a glowing red light contrasting with the gray terrain surrounding it; the other village, this one at the base of the volcanic mountain, had become part of a river of lava which streamed forth from an opening in the volcano's side.

Rhyperiors and Mismagii and all the standard infantry of Giratina's armies were gathered along Mount Chimney's slopes, their eyes fixiated upon their leader. "The ploy was successful, my lady," spoke the captain of the Rhyperiors, who wore a red band around his left forearm. "The cities of Fallarbor and Lavaridge are no more..." He held up his right slab-like arm, over which a long lock of orange-red hair was draped. "And these lands are free of Flannery."

"Good," growled Garchomp, her eyes narrowed to slits. She stared off into the distance towards a mass of approaching firelights, the Pokemon who bore their flames brightly indistinguishable in the night air's shroud. Yet slowly, as each of the Pokemon approached, their features became recognizable and distinguishable, their eyes burning with passion. The great horde of Macargoes, Camerupts, and Magmars ascended up the volcano's slope towards Garchomp and her infantry, a Magmortar leading the advance. The Magmortar's clown-like tufts of hair rippled in the wind as he walked forward to stand across from Garchomp. "Well?" snarled Garchomp, baring her many rows of razor-sharp fangs at the Magmortar.

Gazing deep into the golden eyes of the Horseman of War, the unperturbed Magmortar raised its flamethrower-shaped arm towards the sky. "Master Heatran has sent me to tell you that the Vulcan League is with you and your master," rumbled the Magmortar. "If the great and powerful Lord Giratina will grace him with his presence, our forces and yours are one and the same, until every last human upon this planet has burned!"


	13. Wes of Orre

Far from Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto, the arid region of Orre prepared for war. Wes, the Orre Elite, had arrived at the Orre Resarch Lab, which he had helped found about five years and eight months ago. As Wes entered through the building's glass front doors, he saw a boy in a red-and-yellow sweatshirt with red hair. There was a silver contraption on his arm. Wes stared at the contraption. The boy turned around. "Hello, who're you?" he asked, seeing Wes. Then he slapped his forhead and said, "Oh, you're Wes!"

Wes was taken aback. "Who are you?" he asked. "Are you with the Kids- er, ONBS?"

The boy shook his head, introducing himself. "I'm Michael. Sorry about that."

Instantly, Wes realized who he was talking to. "You're the one who took down Cipher the second time." Michael nodded. "So in other words, that machine on your arm-"

"-is Krane's version of the Snag Machine," Michael finished.

Wes said, "Alright, now that we both know that we're both heroes, I need to find Professor Krane."

Michael smiled confidently. "I'll take you there." Wes followed him into an elevator.

On the second floor, Wes came face-to-face with none other than Rui, his companion during the first Cipher uprising. "Rui, what are you doing here?"

Rui smiled. "It's been a while, Wes."

But Rui's presence wasn't the most surprising thing for Wes. Her ability to see a Pokemon's aura could easily be vital to Krane's research. No, what surprised Wes were the three trainers next to Rui. Obviously, all three of them were rookies. "What are these kids doing here?" he demanded.

Krane, who had not noticed Michael and Wes entering his office, stood up from his desk, and said, "Oh, Wes and Michael! I'm glad you could make it."

Wes looked Krane in the eye. "What are these kids doing here?" he repeated.

Krane shrugged. "They told me they had to come."

The shortest of the three piped up, "I'm Rex!"

The girl next to him said, "I'm Wilsa."

The third kid grinned. "I'm Eddie."

Wes glanced at them, then looked back at Krane. "All right, what's going on here?"

Krane stood up. "I'll explain. Please sit down and make yourselves comfortable."

They all sat down, except Rui and Wes, who leaned against the wall.

Krane began to pace around his office. "All right. Now, Giratina appears to have declared war on humans, right?" Wes nodded. Krane continued, "But throughout history, humans and Pokemon have gotten along, correct?"

Rui sighed. "Get to the point already."

Krane sighed too. "Okay. We, the scientific community, think a human's behind all this. Someone has captured Giratina, and is manipulating it to control all Pokemon, purge the world of everyone who was against him, and then rebuild the world as its leader. Actually, I doubt it would be one person. It would be far more likely to be a team. For example, as soon as Cipher invented the Shadow Process, they formed a whole organization. Once Aqua and Magma learned of Kyogre and Groudon, they also formed a team. Even Team Galactic formed from a single idea, the Red Chain. Team Sapierus came from the idea of human supremacy. Every criminal organization, except Team Rocket, sprang from a single idea. Nonetheless, whoever is behind this is clearly quite malicious."

Michael remembered how Greevil, the leader of the Cipher crime syndicate, had been willing to kill him and all his followers for the sake of pride. Wes recounted how Evice, Greevil's predecessor, had been so power-hungry that he wanted to rule Orre like a king, and built Realgam Tower in order to have a castle. Rui recalled how she had been kidnapped by agents of Cipher trying to protect their Shadow Pokemon market. Rex thought of Team Galactic, and how they tried to destroy Sinnoh to fulfill Cyrus' dreams.

While they could accept Krane's theory as possible, Eddie was completely convinced. Memories of Team Rockets' atrocities echoed in his mind. A Rocket crushing a Marowak's helmet and true skull beneath his feet. Three Rockets kicking a helpless scientist on the ground in the Silph Company's office building. The hundreds of cages within a truck, each containing a Pokemon. His best friend covered with cuts and bruises, missing his wallet and all of his Pokemon, bleeding and incoherent. The bushels of harvested Slowpoke tails and Mightyena pelts. The Lake of Rage filled with Gyradoses, swallowing all who came near them. The terrible genetic manipulations found in the Cinnabar Resarch Lab. And then, at the heart of Team Rocket, Giovanni and his weapon of cruelty: Mewtwo. For Eddie, Krane was not only plausible, but right.

There was an explosion outside which rocked the whole building. Wes ran out of the office and to the window. Seven Mismagii, five Electivires, two Camerupts, and a Heatran were advancing down the path. "Pokemon are attacking us," Wes said. Then he uttered, "No way."

Rui, Eddie, and Krane ran to the window. Eddie stared. "What do you mean?"

Wes pointed at the very back of the army. "Look at the commander."

They all looked. Rui gasped. Krane exclaimed, "It's a Tyranitar!"

Wes nodded. "Not just any Tyranitar, either. The diamond on its chest have vertical stripes."

Michael's jaw dropped. "So that's Evice's Tyranitar!?"

Rui shook her head. "It can't be."

Krane looked at her. "Why not?"

Rui answered, "Because... That's still a Shadow Tyranitar."


	14. Around the World

The city of Olivine was under attack. Jasmine, the gym leader, was side-by-side with soldiers and trainers trying to drive back the Kingdras, Sharpedoes, Gyradoses, and Feraligators emerging from the ocean. Jasmine was riding on her Steelix as it thrashed around the battlefield, having learned to control nausea and motion sickness long ago. It was probably the safest place in the battlefield, anyway, as Steelix's spikes were easy to grip with her knees.

But the other people were not doing so well. Many brought fire- and ground- types to prepare for a battle against Jasmine. A few even brought Camerupts. None of them were successful against water-types. The soldiers were doing badly too. Sharpedoes had bulletproof scales for the most part, as did Gyradoses and the Feraligatrs. Even those with automatic weapons had trouble against them, requiring almost a full ten seconds of shooting to penetrate the scales. By the time a Sharpedo was dead, three more had climbed out of the ocean.

Then, to put the finishing touches of despair, Regigigas leapt out of the ocean and wrecked Olivine's lighthouse. Jasmine lookd up. "Oh no, Ampharos!" she cried. The lighthouse began to crack and crumble, pieces falling on humans and Pokemon of both sides alike.

* * *

"Espeon and Umbreon, go!" called Wes, throwing two Poke Balls into the air.

Rex stood next to him. "Charizard and Empoleon, I choose you!"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Bibarel and Meditite, you're on!"

Next to Eddie was Wilsa. "Jolteon and Dragonair, it's you!"

Michal was on the other side of Wes. "Flareon and Ursaring, let's go!"

Next to Michael, Rui said, "They're all Shadow Pokemon."

"I can't believe this," said Wes. "I left all of my Poke Balls behind."

Michael said, "I forgot all of mine, too."

Seven Mismagii, five Electivires, three Heatrans, and a Shadow Tyranitar stared them down. Then Tyranitar bellowed, and all of the soldiers charged. All five trainers started giving orders at the same time.

Five Mismagii surrounded Espeon and Umbreon, firing Signal Beams. Espeon and Umbreon dodged with Double Team. Two of them slashed at Espeon with Shadow Claw. Umbreon jumped in front of Espeon, the attack barely affecting him. The red jewel on Espeon's head flashed, and Espeon struck one of the other three Mismagii with Psychic. Then, one of the Camerupts slammed into Umbreon, snorting furiously.

Charizard, Empoleon, Dragonair, and Jolteon were attacked by Tyranitar, Heatran, and two Electivire. Jolteon fired a thunderbolt at Heatran, and struck an Electivire instead. Suddenly, the Electivire moved with lightning-fast reflexes. Instead of firing an electrical attack, it smashed a burly, tentacled, arm (Cross Chop) into Empoleon, delievering a one-hit knockout. Then it ran around Jolteon, attacking Wilsa herself. Rex instantly pulled his sister out of the way.

Michael's Pokemon were locked into a stalemate. The other Camerupt and Flareon had trapped each other with Fire Spin, doing no damage to each other but being unable to move. Ursaring, meanwhile, was surrounded by the five Haunters. None could hurt him, and he couldn't hurt them. He feared them, the fearsome wraiths; and they feared him, the mighty grizzly bear.

Bibarel and Meditite were fighting two Electivire and a Mismagius. They dodged, back-to-back, never able to strike out at their opponents. Bibarel constantly rolled out of the way to dodge the Electivires. Meditite, who seldom used her legs, had to crawl very quickly to evade the Mismagius. Eventually, the two pairs would overwhelm the two. Eddie began to feel helpless in this battle. His only control was battle commands. With his Pokemon constantly dodging, he couldn't do anything at all.

The Camerupt sent Umbreon flying. Wes ran to his Umbreon, inspecting for wounds and ordering Espeon to attack. Before Espeon could do so, the Mismagii surrounded it, trapping it in a circle. All of them fired Shadow Balls directly at Espeon. "Espeon, use Dig!" called Wes. Espeon made a small jump, appearing to dive into the ground just before the attacks converged upon it. Wes looked down at Umbreon. "Go get 'em," he said. Umbreon obeyed. It released a dark pulse, striking all of the Mismagii. At the same, Espeon dug underneath Camerupt, delivering a powerful ground strike as it leapt out of the ground. Espeon then quickly backed away as Camerupt bellowed and collapsed to the floor. Espeon and Umbreon went to Wes' side. "Good work, you two," Wes told them. "Let's go help the others."

Tyranitar picked up a heavy boulder and threw it at Charizard. Electivire struck Charizard with Thunderpunch as the stone connected. "Charizard!" Rex yelped. He ran to his Charizard, who was collapsing on the ground. "I'm sorry..." Rex began. He looked at Tyranitar, Electivire, Heatran, and then at his sister.

Wilsa thought, Rex may be arrogant and smug at times, but... he saved me. He cares about family.

Rex thought, For three years, I just wanted to be a great Trainer like my cousins. And now my Charizard's suffering, because of me.

Wilsa said, "Rex, send Torterra and use Earthquake."

Rex shook his head. "What about your Pokemon?"

"It's all right. Don't worry about them," Wilsa assured him.

Rex looked at Charizard. "Return, Charizard..." he said, clicking Charizard's Poke Ball.

Charizard had barely vanished into his Poke Ball when Rex held up Torterra's Poke Ball. "Go, Torterra!"

At the same time, Wilsa had her Pokemon distract Tyranitar, Heatran, and Electivire. Jolteon had been replaced with Umbreon. Dragonair flew in circles around Heatran. Umbreon struck Electivire with Confuse Ray, then used Double Team to surround Tyranitar.

Rex ordered, "Torterra, use Earthquake!" Torterra was taken aback. Earthquake? Since when did Rex use such effective moves? "Just do it!"

Torterra got up onto its hind legs, then came crashing down, shaking the earth with its immense weight. Heatran, about to trap Dragonair with Magma Storm, was thrown onto its back violently from the tremor. Electivire, disoriented and unable to keep its balance, fell to the ground. Rex was utterly amazed by the untapped potential within Torterra. "You did it!" Wilsa cheered.

Then they looked at Tyranitar. It was utterly unfazed. "How are you still alive!?" demanded Wilsa.

Tyranitar laughed nastily. "A simple type advantage cannot destroy me, when it cannot hit me." It shadow-rushed Rex and Wilsa, knocking the wind out of them and hurling them backwards. "The power of darkness rises. Or have you not heard that I am the Lord of Oppression and Pestilence?"

Michael sighed. His Pokemon were still locked into a stalemate. "This is just ridiculous. Attack already!"

Flareon looked at him quizzically, as if to say, How am I supposed to do that? Fire can't hurt me, but I can't get out any more than you could get out of a steel cage.

Ursaring, on the other hand, whimpered as if to say, I can't... they're scary.

Then several focused dark pulses, from Wes' Espeon and Umbreon, smashed into the Mismagii surrounding Ursaring. Wes and his Pokemon were coming towards them, continuing to fire Dark Pulses. Michael pumped an arm. "Yes! Ursaring, use Earthquake. Flareon, use Protect!"

They obeyed. Instantly, Camerupt fell over from the force of the attack, Flareon being unaffected.

Meanwhile, that same earthquake sent the other two Electivires, which were attacking Bibarel, toppling to the ground. Eddie ordered Meditite to hit the Mismagius with Foresight, allowing Bibarel to body-slam it into the ground.

Eddie turned around. "Thanks, guys." Incredibly corny of him to say that now, but it didn't matter.

Eddie, Wes, Michael, and all their Pokemon joined Rex and Wilsa, who were fighting Tyranitar together. Heatran had gotten back up up and joined Tyranitar.

Espeon set up a Reflect force field. Torterra attempted to hit Tyranitar with Wood Hammer, with Heatran taking the hit instead. As Michael, Wes, and Eddie reached the siblings, Heatran surrounded the area with Magma Storms. "No!" Michael cried furiously. Then he ordered, "Flareon, get in there! You can swim, right?" Flareon shook his head violently, as if to say, No, I can't.

Tyranitar attacked Espeon with Crunch, and shadow-tackled Torterra.

"Torterra!" cried Rex.

"Espeon!" cried Wilsa.

Tyranitar looked behind Rex and Wilsa. And then, he recognized Wes. "You!" Tyranitar roared. "You abandoned me!"

All eyes were now following Tyranitar. Heatran tamed the magma storm, allowing Tyranitar to approach Wes safely.

Wes looked Tyranitar in the eye. "I purged the shadows from your soul, and you have brought them back."

Tyranitar was glaring at him viciously. "You abandoned me in Sinnoh."

Wes took a few steps back. "I wanted you to pick up your life where it was when Evice stole it."

Tyranitar ignored him. "You stripped me of power and abandoned me."

There was no reasoning with him, Wes realized. Either Tyranitar really believes these things or he doesn't care.

Meanwhile, Eddie and Meditite snuck behind Tyranitar. Heatran, being distracted, failed to notice Meditite's force palm strike which felled it for good.

Tyranitar snarled, "I'll be back, Wes." Then a sandstorm picked up, a dust devil swirled around him, and disappeared.

* * *

In Kanto, Fuschia City was under attack. The army was, for once, more than the generic Rhydon-Mismagus combo. It contained Infernapes, Salamences, Machokes, and Parasects. It was led by Darkrai.

The human side was led by Kanto Elite Red. Route 19 had been cleverly ambushed, and covered with barbed wire. Of course, it wasn't expected that the traps would stop the army, but they should at least slow and weaken it. Needless to say, Koga was Red's second-in-command.

Darkrai saw through every last one of the traps, thanks to his Kadabra squad. He cackled. When Giratina offered him the choice of any soldiers in his army, Darkrai had requested Parasects as cannon fodder, and for no other reason. It was almost laughable. Mewtwo, the three birds, Garchomp, and Tyranitar hadn't even bothered to include weak underlings to absorb ambushes. Only Giratina himself had done this, in the battle of Seabreak Castle; and it wasn't even necessary at that moment.

Darkrai directed three parasects directly into the traps. As the traps triggered, all hell broke lose. Hidden Voltorbs buried underneath detonated. Boulders fell from the hills on either side of the route. Spikes shot out from holes in the ground. Soldiers and Pokemon came running out of houses, preparing to mop up the rest of the army. In theory. A line of Foretresses formed in front of the soldiers. None of the soldiers showed any surprise that the traps had failed.

Amazed by the soldiers' discipline, Darkrai ordered his entire army to charge. The humans and Kadabras opened fire: humans with automatic fire, kadabras with psybeams. Infernapes and Machokes leapt at the Foretresses. More humans lined up behind the soldiers- Janine and her gym staff, sending out Poison-types. As the battle continued to worsen, Darkai let out an unearthly cackle.


	15. Sea of Chaos

A massive fleet of helicopters landed in Sootopolis City, covering almost every ledge and platform within the mountain. Sootopolis City was becoming a rendevous point for all the cities in Hoenn. Some of the helicopters came from Dewford Town. Others came from Petalburg City and the two towns nearby. None came from Fallarbor or Lavaridge. PokeNav satellites showed both towns as smoking craters. Sparktail thought that Slick might have another breakdown from this, but Slick was barely fazed.

There were also submarines entering the city from Slateport. After the attack on Mauville, Slick evacuated Slateport immediately. All of the submarines would be stored in the underwater entrance into Sootopolis to block off that access.

The most challenging defense of Sootopolis were the giant titanium shutters blocking off the crater. Any attacker that could fly could easily enter the city that way.

Pacifidlog Town had been dismantled, transported within the city, and reassembled in the caldera. Similar floating communities were built, all connected to each other. Far away in the Battle Zone, similar communities were being built.

And Slick began to crack.

* * *

Six screens flashed to life, but two remained dim. There was a brief pause. "Report," said Red as he stared at the Council.

Cynthia said, "All of the Rangers in Almia have joined us in the Battle Zone. Magnezones blockaded the bay, held back by the Dragonite herd. However, fifteen hours ago, many of the Magnezones dispersed."

"The Magnezones just flew off, leaving the bay open?" said GOld

Cynthia shook her head. "No. About a third of the Magnezones remained, neither attacking nor retreating. Their purpose seems to be merely to blockade us."

Gold sighed. "All right. It's my turn. Olivine City was conquered, blown to bits, the whole nine yards." Chri[s]' jaw dropped, leaning forward into the screen. Gold continued, "Jasmine and many others fled Olivine City, taking refuge in Ecruteak City. Ecruteak is now under attack. For such an old-fashioned city, however, it's putting up a good fight." In the distance, gunfire could be heard in the background.

There were no questions, so Chris went next. "Fuschia City is under siege. It has been under siege for two days now. The attacking army was led by a Darkrai, calling itself the lord of Famine and Despair."

"Was led?" repeated Red.

"The Darkrai has not been seen for some time," Chris explained.

Now Slick reported. Though not a champion, he was Steven Stone's represenative to the council. "Rustboro, Fallarbor, and Lavaridge have all been destroyed by an army led by a Garchomp called the lord of War and Devastation. As of right now, all of Hoenn is sheltering or traveling to Sootopolis City."

There were no questions. All of them noticed Slick's change- less wit, more exhaustion. Wes decided to give his report then. "As mentioned already, Tyranitar and his army entered Orre through Fiore in the east. They completely destroyed all of its cities and landmarks. I know for a fact that Hastings' lab was burned down. It is unknown if any of the Rangers in Fiore survived." In Realgam Tower, Krane handed Wes a summary of his findings. Wes glanced down at it, then back at the camera. "There's more. Giratina's army appears to be involved with one or more humans." An uproar broke out, mostly ridiculing him. Wes held up his hand for silence. "Hold on. I do have proof!" They all fell silent. "The proof is that Giratina's army is composed of Shadow Pokemon. My colleague Rui can confirm this for you. Only a human could possibly have understood how to operate Cipher's machinery."

He then added, "Lastly, Tyranitar calls itself 'Conquest, White Justice'. Does anyone know what that means?" At once, the meeting degraded into chaos once more.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the city of Sootopolis fortified its defenses, Mewtwo stood on a flat outcropping of stone in the middle of Hoenn's oceans. The moonlight and the stars shone down upon the turbulent waters all around Mewtwo. In Mewtwo's hand was the same bronze staff that he had carried since Giratina's return. Mewtwo's violet eyes flashed in the night, their owner unaffected by the pouring rains and ocean storms.

Mewtwo raised the staff high over his head, and channeled his psychic power outwards from his body. The waves in front of him began to swirl in place, gradually increasing in speed until it formed a massive vortex of churning water. The whirlpool deepened, reaching for the ocean floor. It continued to accelerate and widen. Mewtwo continued to channel energy into the staff and outwards from his body, spurring on the ocean's great vortex...

And then, from the very depths of the seas, a perfect sphere of crystal rose up towards the surface. It was a brilliant fiery blue, like that of a sapphire. The Blue Orb continued to rise until it was hovering at eye level with Mewtwo. Mewtwo reached out and took the orb into his three-fingered hand.

Mewtwo gazed intently into the sapphire sphere, marveling at the craftsmanship that had created this artifact. He leapt into the air with the orb and the staff, and floated off into the night.

* * *

The next morning...

When the emergency signal came, Steven Stone did not busy himself with speeches, or distract himself with infrastructure, or defer the reports to Slick this time. As the council adjourned, the 22-year-old champion announced that Garchomp and its forces had been sighted passing through and burning down Fortree City. Of these three events, the second was the most important.

Throughout the world, all of Giratina's armies were in retreat, except for Garchomp's. The army at Ecruteak had retreated. The army attacking Fuschia was now at a third of its original size. The Magnezones keeping the people of Sinnoh trapped in the Battle Zone's bay were mostly gone, with just enough to keep the area sealed. In Orre, Tyranitar had not attacked Pyrite Town, despite the fact that it lacked defenses of almost any sort. But Garchomp's army was advancing. Thanks to the diligence of the people of Hoenn, almost every city was evacuated. Only two remained: Sootopolis itself, and Lilycove City. There was only one possible conclusion: Giratina was amassing all of his armies to finish off Hoenn.

* * *

By three o' clock, the helicopters had been deployed already, the titanium shutters having been resealed. Rush was filling in Sparktail, Thalia, Skarmory, and Umbreon on current events.

"Many people in Hoenn went through Lilycove and Slateport to get to Sootopolis," Rush said. "Their harbors contained many submarines left over from the National Navy. The submarines were originally for transporting tourists to Sootopolis."

Skarmory asked, "So why weren't the submarines in Lilycove used?"

Rush sighed. "Remember Aqua and Magma?" They nodded. "Well, Maxie blew up all of the submarines near Lilycove. This was why Archie was training Wailmers, so that they could rebuild a submarine fleet and protect it."

Sparktail asked, "So why did they need Captain Stern's submarine to get to the Seafloor Cavern?"

Rush explained, "Team Aqua had brought all of the submarines to Lilycove. Team Magma destroyed all of them, which were falling apart anyways and couldn't have gone that deep anyways. The submarines that are currently hidden under Sootopolis were based off of Captain Stern's model." He continued with his story. "Anyways, Lilycove no longer has submarines, and everyone's only realized that just now. Garchomp and his army are approaching Lilycove City right now, and everyone there is trapped. So an entire fleet of helicopters went to collect the people there."

* * *

Half an hour later, the fleet of helicopters arrived in Lilycove. They filled up with men, women, children, and Pokemon waiting in Lilycove for another half-hour. Slick carefully monitored the helicopters for any sort of malfunction or miscalculation, such as whether more gasoline or helicopters were needed. It was a massive operation, much more dire than the evacuation of Snowpoint City. Too many things could go wrong. Slick tracked Garchomp's troops' movements as they trampled through forests and crossed rivers. It was disturbing to Slick that Garchomp's army grew larger as it progressed, as Brelooms, Ninjasks, Dusclopses, Macargoes, Tropiuses, and Houndooms followed Garchomp, in addition to the Mismagii and Rhydons. And, let's not forget Aggrons and Torterras. Luckily, the army was a land-based army, and the only ones who had a chance of attacking Sootopolis were incapable of swimming.

And yet the army continued to march. Sparktail and his teammates were gathered around Slick, watching a computer screen constantly updating with the current status. Sparktail, Leafeon, and Umbreon were standing on Slick's desk, while Rush and Skarmory were looking over Slick's shoulders from behind.

Garchomp and his army were less than five miles away from Lilycove now. One of the helicopters was having trouble. The others were flying off, returning to Sootopolis. Garchomp's army was getting closer. The helicopter was out of gasoline. Mechanics were scurrying around, trying to refill the tank. Slick watched anxiously, praying for a miracle...

And then a miracle happened. As Garchomp's army passed the Safari Zone gate, they turned south towards Mount Pyre instead.

Garchomp had just done the most illogical thing imaginable. Instead of proceeding to attack the nearest human settlement, the army had gone off in a completely random direction.

"What in the world?" uttered Slick. Sparktail and his teammates shared his bewilderment. Then, they looked back at the screen. The final helicopter had refilled and was taking off. Everything had gone perfectly- too perfectly. "Why would Garchomp do that?" wondered Sparktail. He looked at Thalia, who mirrored his confusion. It made no sense at all for such a massive army to just give up and leave before it was obvious they had failed. It would be expected if they gave up after seeing the last of the helicopters taking off, but...

"The Orb!" said Rush suddenly. "Garchomp isn't going to destroy Lilycove, she's going after the Orb!"

"Say what?" uttered Slick, frowning. "The jewel that maintains the balance of nature through Rayquaza...? But that's just a myth... isn't it?" He looked around to find Sparktail, Thalia, Insyte, and Ferricia all staring at him adamantly. "No... surely it can't exist...!"


	16. Battle of Hoenn

"Come on, everyone!" yelled Slick as he leapt up from his chair and ran out through the door, lifting his backpack up onto his shoulders. Sparktail, Thalia, Insyte, Ferricia, and Rush exchanged worried glances, and then bolted out of the office and after their trainer. As they ran down the corridors, Slick pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket, his fearful words too jumbled for Sparktail's ears to distinguish.

They emerged from the building as the massive shutters which sealed the mountain's crater began to open, revealing a storm-wracked sky torn apart by crimson streaks of lightning bolts. One by one, Slick and his Pokemon climbed up and onto Ferricia's back, their tightly packed bodies pressed together as physically possible on Ferricia's back.

"All right, Skarmory. You know where to go," called Slick, his heels knocking against the armored bird's body as if to spur her onwards. Ferricia let out a screech and leapt up into the air, her massive wings lifting her up towards the opening in the mountain. They ascended up through the hole, and into the open sky.

* * *

As Ferricia descended upon the shrine which rested upon Mount Pyre's peak, Slick leapt down from the Skarmory's back and sprinted up the carved stone steps towards the peak where a shimmering sphere of emerald crystal rested upon its pyramid-like stand on an ivory-white altar. Slick let out a sigh of relief as he and his Pokemon arrived at the shrine, his eyes flicking up towards the darkened heavens as he walked towards the altar, gazing into the shining sphere which held dominion over the power of the winds. "It's still here," breathed the trainer as his fingers closed around the Jade Orb. "Let's get out of here and back to Soo-"

Suddenly, a mighty roar shattered the silent air, accompanied by violent foosteps which shook the entire mountain. Alarmed, Slick and his Pokemon whirled around on the grassy plateau to see the terrible crimson-scaled dragon ascending the sloping trail that led up towards the trail where they stood, crushing ancient stone steps into dust with every step as the dragon trampled up the verdant carpet of grass. Sparktail stared in shock at the fearsome figure of the Garchomp, the vicious hammerhead jaws and countless rows of teeth, the razor-sharp claws stained with golden rust, the crimson scales which were splattered with the blood of the fiend's enemies. "We'd better get out of here," said Slick urgently as the lieutenant approached, glancing to Ferricia with fear in his eyes. "Everyone, let's-"

Suddenly, the Garchomp lunged forward like a rocket, clearing the entirety of the mountainslope in but a few seconds of adrenaline to come crashing to a halt atop the slope with a tremor that shook the earth, sending Slick, the roosting Ferricia and the other Pokemon hurtling to the ground.

"Slick, master of Hoenn," spat the Horseman of War as a stunned Slick slowly rose to his feet, the dragon's eyes narrowing to dangerous slits which promised murder in their shine. Thalia and Rush both snarled at the Garchomp with fury as they saw Ferricia crumple to the ground in unconsciousness, while Insyte and Sparktail quickly recoiled from the hammerhead dragon in fear and retreated to Slick's side. "Your time of reign is at an end! We Pokemon shall take what is ours by storm!"

"On a day to mark the end of time forevermore, the Exile shall awaken to begin a new war," recited a voice thick with corruption which brought Slick's blood to a curl as he whirled around towards the ocean to see a Tyranitar with chalk-white scales and a massive pair of leathery black wings extending from his spine, beating rapidly as the Horseman of Pestilence swooped down from the darkening sky. "For the lord of darkness shall unite the shards of the earth... Restored from exile, he shall return it to its birth."

Two lieutenants. A flying Tyranitar and a Garchomp against a single trainer. Slick glanced fearfully to his Pokemon, his mind whirling with possible strategies. Yet the blinding white and the vivid scarlet of the two horsemen's scales seemed to cloud his thoughts with a terrible fog of foreboding.

"You should never have come here, Slickesten Silversky," hissed a serpent-like voice as a flare of vibrant blue light erupted from beside the Jade Orb's altar, materializing into the blackened body of Mewtwo.

As the third lieutenant whipped out a long bronze stave and leveled it at Slick's neck, the trainer noticed Rush and Thalia dragging Ferricia's unconscious form to his feet. One by one, his Pokemon were retreating from the three lieutenants to join their trainer's side as they pressed against his leg. Tyranitar and Garchomp gave vicious snarls of bloodlust, their claws seeming to itch to dig into Slick's flesh. "You left the safety of your little sanctuary in Sootopolis. Fool!" rasped Mewtwo as a violet aura of shadows materialized itself around him.

Finally, Slick closed his eyes and knelt down in the midst of his Pokemon with the Jade Orb clutched in one hand, his thoughts flicking to Sparktail, to Thalia, to Insyte, to Rush, and to Ferricia. Poor Ferricia, to have fallen in a single hit that should never have touched her avian ancestry! There were no rules in war. Perhaps it was time for Slick to violate a rule of his own morals, to resort to a weapon he had long avoided... if it meant getting back to Sootopolis City alive.

"Hoh ho hoh! Slicksten Silversky alive and Hoenn within our grasp!" cackled a deep voice from the sky as a slash of lightning and a roll of thunder split the heavens. At once, Slick's eyes shot open and darted up towards the sound of the speaker's voice to see a shadowy figure concealed in a cloak of venom-green and a tarnished-black collar from which a thick plume of noxious smoke billowed. "Heh heh heh... four hundred more deaths to take tonight," growled Darkrai dangerously as he descended to the floor of the plateau, his cloak of death rippling in the mountain winds. "And you, Slick... are the first on my list!"

Slick slowly turned around to survey the peak where he and his Pokemon were now trapped, his emerald eyes flicking to each of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse with clear disdain. Memories of the lieutenants' atrocities echoed in his mind as pitch-black storm clouds churned in the heavens above, the violence and the countless murders of innocent life after innocent life, endless stories snuffed out before their completion. Reaching into his pocket as he pivoted around, Slick glanced down to each of his Pokemon and deposited a shimmering sphere of amber crystal in Sparktail's lap, a red-and-yellow leather band beside Rush, and a revive crystal in Ferricia's beak. "This isn't over," declared Slick as he spun around to face Darkrai, the hostile growls of the other lieutenants assaulting him from all sides. As Ferricia slowly rose to her talons, the trainer whipped out a magnum pistol and aimed the barrel directly at the Horseman's crystal-blue eyes, feeling the weight of the Jade Orb against his hip as he pulled back the safety. "We're getting back to Sootopolis, even if we've got to go through you all!"

At once, Darkrai let out a fierce shriek and flew at Slick, who quickly ducked and rolled aside as Tyranitar swooped down upon Ferricia and Rush while Mewtwo leapt at Insyte and Garchomp lunged at Sparktail and Thalia. The trainer shot twice at the Grim Reaper as Insyte barely dodged a shadow blast from Mewtwo, Rush climbing up onto Ferricia's back with the Pale Tyrant in hot pursuit.

A pair of massive shark fins struck into the ground only inches from Sparktail as he rolled out of harm's way with Light Ball in one paw, panic rising in his chest as he instinctively strained his ears for orders that Slick could not give. As the Red Dragon whirled around to tear apart Thalia's leaf blades, a thunderbolt shot from Sparktail's paw only to glance off of the Garchomp's thick red scales. Long golden claws dug painful gouges into the Raichu's body as Mewtwo brought his bronze staff slamming across Insyte to fling the Umbreon aside, and their yells of pain clashed in the heat of the battle.

Several more shots rang out from Slick's handgun as the young man backed away from the advancing Darkrai, while Ferricia barrel-rolled aside to avoid a hurtling sharpened bladed wheel of stone from Tyranitar's hand, the slender stone-edge ring falling to the peak and shattering into razor-sharp shrapnel behind Thalia. As Sparktail struggled to his paws, he raised his eyes to meet Slick's, and the two exchanged expressions of despair.

* * *

The area surrounding Sootopolis was in turmoil. Boats carrying soldiers were fighting off Gyradoses and Salamences with their weapons and their Foretresses. Rhydons were drilling holes into the mountain on all sides, while humans riding Magnezones attempted to blast them off. Metagrosses were fighting on both sides, firing missles and magnet bombs. Ships were wrecked by spontaneous rockslides and massive fireballs. Meteors fell from the sky, impacting upon the mountain and leaving countless smoking craters upon the rock face.

Within Sootopolis City, chaos reigned stronger than ever. Houndooms set buildings on fire. More gunmen were shooting. Wailmers flew out of the lake, destroying homes and crushing people into the ground with their immense weight. A Wailord leapt into the air, regurgitating the submarines which had blocked the underwater entrance to Sootopolis. Electivires struck down all who attempted to flee Sootopolis through the water. When the titanium shutters opened to allow helicopters inside, Moltres and many Drifblims came with them. The Drifblims destroyed walkways and ledges by exploding. Moltres easily picked off human targets who were trapped on ledges. Then a Rhydon succeeded in drilling through the mountain. He collapsed into the water, and was followed by a group of Kadabras who formed a bridge. They were followed by Machokes, Brelooms, and Infernapes, all of whom wreaked even more havoc.

Then came the moment of total despair. The shutters had begun to close when a dark shadow covered the twilight sky. It was the Beast, the ancient dragon of darkness. Its wings were dark as a moonless night. Three blood-red claws glowed on each of the wings. The chest of the dragon was red and black, and had six golden claws. The six-legged dragon was a deathly pale gray, its head adorned with a gilded helm and a crescent crest. For this was Giratina the Exile, and the Hoenn region now lay ripe for his taking.

* * *

A spectral black arm swept out and struck Slick to the ground with a gasp as Darkrai brought his shiny black claws together, a spherical vortex of gathering shadows forming betwixt his hands, drawing the light and color from the world around him. At once, the other battlers froze and turned to face the Reaper, Ferricia and the Pale Tyrant landing on the ground across the peak from Sparktail as the Horseman of Death channeled his powers into the Dark Void.

"Let the wellspring of darkness awaken," roared Darkrai, the churning vortex in his hands whipping around faster and faster, the fight seeming to drain from Sparktail's body as it was whisked into the nonentity void. "We are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the Exile is restored tonight!" As the last of his words rang out, Garchomp, Tyranitar, and Mewtwo were enveloped in obsidian-black auras of swirling shadowed flames, and violet bursts of darkness began to rain down from the sky upon them. The three fiends glaced at each other with vicious expressions of joy, and then floated up towards Darkrai to channel their forces into the Void as well.

Then from where he lay sprawled on the ground before Darkrai, Slick raised his right arm to point the barrel of his pistol at the very heart of the Dark Void with clenched teeth, and shouted a single order to all his Pokemon. "Everyone! Hyper Beam!"

Without giving the order a single thought, Sparktail closed his eyes and summoned every last reserve of energy in his body, focusing it into a single, final attack, channeling every crackle of anxiety and every spark of anger into his paws. and his entire body began to glow bright white. Closing his eyes to shield them from the blinding pristine light which steadily intensified until his features were indistinguishable, the Raichu poured every thought and every fear, every horror and every anger, every regret and every wish into the light. As the force of his gathered energy reached its peak, the lightning mouse's eyes flickered open, and he squinted towards his teammates to see that they, too, were prepared to launch the most devastating technique of techniques, the legendary attack of attacks.

"Fire!" yelled Slick as he tightly squeezed the trigger of his gun, the resounding gunshot barely audible as four massive blasts of golden obliterating light exploded from Sparktail and the others. The bullet and the Hyper Beams impacted the Four Horsemen and the Void in a massive explosion of blinding destructive forces that drew panicked cries from the lieutenants and Slick's Pokemon alike, Sparktail's attack draining him of every last bit of energy and willpower as he tumbled back head over tail from the shattering vortex of shadows and the upheaval in the earth as the utterly defeated lieutenants crashed into the ground and sank into unconsciousness. As the shrapnel and the shockwaves of the immense explosion rippled through Slick, sending him skidding back across the rocky plateau, his left hand clutched hold of the Jade Orb in his jacket pocket, knowing that it was safe from Giratina.


	17. A Day to Mark the End of Times

As Giratina descended through the crater into Sootopolis City, accompanied by the legendary birds, fire and ice and lightning struck the walls of the ancient hollow mountain, sending mighty showers of boulders raining down upon the helpless humans down below. The red spikes on the Exile's wings arranged themselves into triangular patterns, spheres of crimson energy gathering between each set of spikes before blasting outwards in massive spirals which sliced through homes and streets, as Giratina and his pair of crimson energy beams spun around in midair with roars of savage pleasure.

"Giratina the Exile," roared a mighty voice amidst the cries and screams of terror, the voice of the shining king who once felled him. At once, an enraged Giratina whipped around in midair towards the sound of his opponent's bellow to see Dialga descending from the sky, his magnificent armor and eyes shining bright. "Stop this madness," declared the king of time as he reached the top of the arc of his leap, decending through the air towards Giratina with righteous anger burning in his eyes. "Open your eyes, Exile! See what your rage brings upon this world!" He leveled the prongs of his helm towards Giratina's neck to fire a dragon pulse at the devil dragon.

"I am the beginning and the end, the destroyer and the rebuilder," spat Giratina, swooping low to dodge Dialga's attack as he sent a burst of crimson light at the ancient dragon. "Mankind has recived their justly earned destruction, for the plague they impart upon the world!"

"Long-earned? You fool! You've been blinded by your time of isolation," shouted back Dialga, his sky-blue veins shining with brilliant light as a blast of brilliant blue-white energy shot from his paw. "Look at the ruins of this city, and see what your rage has wrought!"

A furious rage boiled in Giratina's veins as he swerved aside to dodge Dialga's attack. "I see nothing, save for that which has been brought to justice!" screamed the Exile, firing six successive shadow balls at Dialga as the destruction of Sootopolis raged on far beneath them. "Would you consent to be a slave and mindless pawn of mankind, Dialga?!"

Dialga whipped around in midair and swooped under the flurry of attacks, unleashing a thick stream of searing blue flames from his maw. "There is no justice in the slaughter of the innocent, and no virtue in the atrocities you've commited," bellowed Dialga as Giratina whipped gales of wind to sweep away the fiery heat wave. "We were right to cast you down for your betrayal!"

"Such hypocrisy! Who is it that speaks of justice?" shouted Giratina, his eyes burning with crimson light as he reflected a beam of golden energy from Dialga's maw back at his foe. "And who, Dialga, is virtuous, when you lay yourself and the fate of all Pokemon prostrate before mankind?!" Before Dialga could reply, Giratina lunged forward through the air with all the indomitable speed in his bloodstream, smashing into the king of time with the full force of his infinite wrath and hatred. "Who has betrayed whom?! Who?!" shrieked the Exile as he slammed both of his wings against Dialga's flanks to drive his crimson spikes deep into his enemy's body.

"You'll... never get... the Griseous Orb," groaned Dialga as the massive spikes pierced his sides, the pain doubled as the crimson skewers vibrated with malignant hatred. "You... can't..."

"You're too late," spat Giratina, ripping his wings free from the king of time viciously. The clouds of fury in his soul were thick with venom as a scream erupted from Dialga's noble maw, the magnificent beast's body slipping from Giratina's grip and hurtling down towards the battlefield below.

* * *

Sparktail's eyes flickered open as a young man with neatly combed light-teal hair and a dark gray suit outlined in violet ascended up Mount Pyre's slope, hurrying towards the place where Slick lay. The world slowly came into focus with every step across the ruined ground that brought Steven Stone closer to Slick. As Sparktail watched Steven sprinting towards the Raichu's trainer, he noticed a gaunt look in the former Elite's eyes, and an ominous shiver ran down his spine to the very tip of his tail. "Slick, Slick, what were you doing?" demanded Steven furiously, a billowing rage churning deep in his eyes as he knelt down by the stirring Elite. "Have you lost your mind?!"

The Raichu watched as a confused Slick blinked and glanced up into his predecessor's eyes. "I... Steven Stone?"

"Yes, it's Steven Stone," shouted the other trainer, tears beginning to stream from his eyes, angry waves of grief and sorrow emanating from the very core of his body which threatened to sweep Sparktail aside in a tide of turbulent emotion. "Sootopolis City has been all but obliterated, and you... you weren't here to defend it!"

A wave of horror buried Slick's face in shadows, sending eerie chills down Sparktail's spine. "I... I had to come... and get the Orb," protested Slick weakly, staring into Steven's furious eyes. "You know the legends of the Orbs... the power that the Jade Orb could unleash. And... they shouldn't have been able to attack before I returned..."

An aghast gasp came from Steven's throat. "You... you put all of Hoenn on the line for a fairy tale," breathed the Steel trainer, staring in disbelief at Slicksten Silversky. "How many lives were snuffed out today, the lives of men and women and children and Pokemon, because of the fears of a long-gone myth-"

Yet before Steven Stone could finish his rant, a crimson streak of lightning split apart the cobalt skies. The silvery clouds in the sky quickly tarnished to a sulfuric yellow as Slick, Steven, and the barely conscious Sparktail raised their eyes towards the immense figure descending from the heavens. Yet as Sparktail stared upon the fearsome sillouette of Giratina the Exile, a fresh wave of horror engulfed him as if he had not yet seen the despicable beast in the razing of Jublife and the assault upon Seabreak Castle. Its golden helm has reshapen itself from an elaborate headdress into the cruel beak of a warlord's mask, each the pitch-black wings which could blot out the sun in a single sweep unraveled into a triad of thick obsidian tentacles on either side of him, each of the cable-like coils tapering to a crimson spike upon its tip. The chains which bound its legs were fully cast off now, the legs transformed into tarnished-golden spikes to unveil Giratina in all his seperpentine glory, the length of his body decorated with alternating rings of scarlet hatred and cold-gray death. Yet the eyes which burned with malice, which contained storms of thrashing rage withn their bloody glow, had not diminished in the slighest as they seared deep into Sparktail's soul.

"Giratina the Exile," breathed Steven Stone in horror, his knees quaking in fear as he slowly rose to his feet, one hand reaching for a Poke Ball on his belt. "You... you cold-blooded murderer... y-you.. you fiend..."

"I am the beginning and the end," roared Giratina as it slowly descended towards the peak, its voice boiling with rage even in its most frigid cruelty. "I bear the wrath of two thousand years of oppression, of the endless vengeance against mankind. Let this day be a DAY TO MARK THE END OF MANKIND'S REIGN FOREVER!"

His voice erupting with passionate death, the Exile gave a shrill screech and a thrash of its tentacles, the crimson spikes on the ends of the thick black tendrils glowing bright with gathering force. Sparktail stared in horror as massive beams of darkest fury exploded outwards from the very tips of the spikes and blasted Steven Stone, lifting him high up into the air with a terrible scream of agony as wrath and death and destruction melted and froze and assaulted the human's flesh, until the former Elite had been obliterated into complete dust.

Giratina gave a cruel laugh as a petrified scream erupted from Slick's throat, the Hoenn Champion's eyes bulging in unending terror as he began to crawl towards the quickly dissapating cloud of smoking dust that once was Steven Stone. The Exile shook his head with sadistic pleasure, its thick black tentacles lunging forward to coil around Slicksten Silversky, lifting the screaming human high into the air before Sparktail's horrified gaze, the tentacles wrapped around his arms and legs and abdomen as Slick's and Giratina's eyes met. A longsword with a violet blade of tarnished chrome and blackened metal materialized in midair parallel to the ground, the very tip of the blade pointed at Slick's heart as frightened gasps escaped from Sparktail's stirring teammates, a weary yet still defiant expression in Slick's eyes. "The world shall never be cleansed until you die," spat Giratina as the sword thrust itself into Slick's chest to impale the trainer's heart.

An aghast scream burst from the Raichu's horrified mouth as Sparktail's beloved trainer, his dearest friend in all the world, who had done so much for him, fell from Giratina's malicious grasp, the terrible blade which pierced him vanishing in a flare of light as the mortally wounded man struck the ground with a splatter of blood. "SLICK!" screamed Sparktail in horror as he, Thalia, Insyte, and Rush raced towards Slick's dying figure, his own exhaustion forgotten in the ghastly spectacle of death before him, Giratina's demonic laughter ringing in the Raichu's ears as they knelt down beside their fallen trainer. "NO!"

"Remember this day well, Slicksten Silversky," bellowed Giratina as his tentacles flared outwards, his eyes turned up towards the bloody heavens. "Remember me in the afterlife, how you and all of Hoenn were crushed into nothingness for all your meaningless resistance. Horsemen of the Apocalypse... Arise!"

One by one, Mewtwo, Garchomp, Tyranitar, and Darkrai rose to their feet, letting out triumphant roars as they saw the plume of destruction rising from Sootopolis' ruins in the distance, their yells barely audible to Sparktail's numbed mind. Let the world fall to pieces beneath Giratina's claws, the heavens themselves be destroyed, for what mattered now that Slicksten Silversky was dying before his paws? As Giratina and his four lieutenants vanished into the sky, the Raichu buried his face into Slick's fading body and collapsed into weeping, for their protector- their guardian, their parent and friend- was slain.

"No... don't cry for me," whispered Slick as his lifeblood drained away. "Please... y-you've got to remain strong... r-r-run and survive!"

TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
